title: Bacterial meningitis in elderly patients: clinical picture and course.
abstract: We reviewed the case records of 48 patients aged 60 years and older with a diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis made during the period 1976-88. Predisposing conditions were present in 26 patients (54%) and concurrent infections in 24 patients (50%). Streptococcus pneumoniae accounted for 41% of all isolates and 56% were Gram-positive organisms. The most common symptoms were fever (79%), meningism (54%) and change in mental status (69%). Sixty-three per cent of the patients survived. Increased fatality was associated with absence of typical symptoms and signs and was presumably due to a delay in diagnosis. Other clinical and biochemical variables and antimicrobial therapy before admission to hospital and the presence of underlying disease were not associated with outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Gastroenterology, Aalborg Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Møller-Petersen
authors.forename: F V
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Mortensen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nielsen
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D008586:Meningitis, Pneumococcal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate