Table 4.

CSF analysis in various types of meningitis

CSF analysis	Bacterial	Tuberculosis	Viral	Fungal	Aseptic
Pressure	Increased	Increased	Normal to elevated	Normal to mild increase	Increased
Color	Turbid	Turbid	Clear	Clear	Clear to turbid
Glucose	< 40 mg%	Low	Normal to mild less	Low to normal	Low
Proteins	Elevated	Greatly elevated	Normal to mild elevation	Normal to mild increase	Elevated
Lactate	Elevated (> 6 mmol/L)	Elevated	0–6 mmol/L	Normal	Normal
RBCs	Elevated	Elevated	Normal	Normal	Elevated
WBCs	10-2000/ cu mm	Elevated, but < 500	>100/ cu mm	10–50/. cu mm	Mildly elevated
WBC types	Neutrophils	Lymphocytes	Lymphocytes	Lymphocytes	Neutrophils
Gram stain	Positive	Acid fast bacilli	Negative	Negative India ink for spores/fungi	Negative
Microbial Culture	Positive	Positive (yield is high in early stages)	Negative	Positive	Negative
Biomarkers	Elevated C-reactive proteins	Antibodies in CSF (detection of anti-M37Ra, anti-antigen 5, and anti-M37Rv)
		Elevated CSF procalcitonin, Adenosine deaminase	Low CRP and adenosine deaminase		Seen following neurosurgery or antibiotic use
PCR test		Help in identification of organisms even after antibiotics are started	Helps in identification of the organisms