title: Correlation of lactic acid level, cell count and cytology in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with bacterial and non-bacterial meningitis.
abstract: The relation between lactate concentration and cell count was determined in 394 CSF samples from unselected patients. In addition, a similar analysis was performed in 156 CSF samples from patients with bacterial and non-bacterial meningitis. The correlation between cell type and lactate level was also examined. The analysis demonstrated a significant linear increase in lactate showing high lactate levels at cell counts above 350 cells per microliter. Since the lactic acid concentration in bacterial meningitis increases linearly with the number of lactate-producing cells, it may be concluded that the increased lactate concentration results from CSF pleocytosis. If lactate levels are higher than the normal distribution, additional sources of lactate production such as cerebral hypoxia must be assumed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Free University of Berlin, West Germany.
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Kölmel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: von Maravic
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007773:Lactates / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D019344:Lactic Acid; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008581:Meningitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D007773:Lactates; D019344:Lactic Acid