Table 3.

Infectious disease and typical cerebrospinal fluid changes

Disease	CSF Pressure	CSF Appearance	WBC Counta	WBC Type	Total Protein concentrationb	Albumin	Globulin	CSF Antibodies detectable	Organisms visible
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP)	WNL or ↑	Clear or turbid	+++ (WNL- ++)	PMN-mono-mixed	+++ (WNL-+)	++	++	Yes	No
Other viral encephalitis (eg, Borna disease)c	WNL	Clear (turbid)	+ (++)	Mono	+ (++)	WNL	?	No	No
Protozoal meningoencephalitis (eg, toxoplasmosis)	WNL or ↑	Xanthochromic	+ (++)	Mixed-PMN, eos, mono	+ (++)	+	+	Variable	Rarely
Fungal meningoencephalitis (eg, cryptococcosis)	↑ or viscous	Turbid, xanthochromic	++	Mixed-PMN, mono, eos	++	++	+(+)	Varies	Varies
Bacterial meningitis	WNL or ↑	Turbid	++ (+++)	PMN (mixed)	++ (+++)	++	++	Varies	Yes (varies)

Abbreviations: CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; eos, eosinophils predominate; FIP, feline infectious peritonitis; mono, mononuclear cells (ie, lymphocytes, monocytes, macrophages) predominate; PMN, polymorphonuclear cells (neutrophils) predominate; WBC, white blood cell; WNL, within normal limits; ↑ = increased.

Symbols in parentheses indicate less frequently seen variations.

Data from Refs. [4], [10], [20], [72], [167].

^aReference range for WBC count = <4 per microliter; + = 5–80 per microliter; ++ = 81–500 per microliter; +++ = >500 per microliter.

^bReference range for total protein concentration = <25 mg/dL; + = 25–100 mg/dL; ++ = 100–300 mg/dL; +++ = >300mg/dL.

^cSome viral infections cause neuropathologic changes without inflammation, and these may alter the CSF little [43].