Table 2.
Demographic, laboratory and clinical characteristics of patients.
| Encephalitis (n = 20) | Aseptic meningitis (n = 46) | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender, male, no (%) | 10/20 (50) | 16/46 (35) | ns |
| Ageb | 53 (29) | 34 (11) | <0.001 |
| Stay in intensive care unit (%) | 8/20 (40) | 2/46 (4) | <0.001 |
| Etiology, confirmed/probablec (%) | 5/20 (25) | 34/46 (74) | <0.001 |
| Days in hospitalb | 14 (13) | 3 (2) | <0.001 |
| Days since ictusb | 1 (3) | 1 (1) | ns |
| Headache (%) | 12/20 (60) | 46/46 (100) | <0.001 |
| Neck stiffness, subjective (%) | 3/19 (16) | 31/46 (67) | <0.001 |
| Photophobia (%) | 7/20 (35) | 32/46 (70) | 0.009 |
| Clinical findings | |||
| Objective neck stiffness (MD) (%) | 5/19 (26) | 22/46 (48) | ns |
| Seizures (%) | 2/17 (12) | 0 | 0.027 |
| Focal findings (%) | 9/20 (45) | 3/ 42 (7) | <0.001 |
| Objective fever (%) | 14/20 (70) | 29/46 (63) | ns |
| Temperature, admissiona | 37.3 (1.0) | 37.3 (0.9) | ns |
| MR typical for encephalitis (n = 31) | 4/18 (22) | 0/13 (0) | ns |
| EEG suggestive of encephalitis (n = 18) | 10/16(63) | 0/2 (0) | ns |
| Laboratory findings | |||
| WBC in serum (n = 66)a | 9.7 (3.1) | 8.9 (2,3) | ns |
| CRP (n = 65)b | 5.7 (21) | 4.7 (9) | ns |
| CSF- WBCb | 65 (256) | 243 (409) | ns |
| CSF- proteinsb | 0.909 (0.907) | 0.675 (0.531) | 0.017 |
| CSF- glucosea | 3.5 (0.6) | 3.3 (0.6) | ns |
| CSF- glucose ratio (n = 50)a | 0.56 (0.13) | 0.56 (0.09) | ns |
| Treatment during hospital stay | |||
| Aciclovir iv, no (%) | 18/20 (90) | 34/46 (74) | ns |
| “CNS- antibiotics”, no (%) | 14/20 (70) | 28/46 (61) | ns |
Data are presented as number (%), amean (SD) or bmedian (IQR). cEtiology in encephalitis were; VZV (n = 2), HSV1 (n = 1), B. burgdorferi (n = 2). Aseptic meningitis; EV (n = 20), HSV2 (n = 10), VZV (n = 2), Toscana virus (n = 1), B. burgdorferi (n = 1).