title: The use of the cytocentrifuge in the diagnosis of meningitis.
abstract: A retrospective case-control records review was conducted to determine the usefulness of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytocentrifuge in the diagnosis of meningitis. Over a two-year period, 7,114 records were reviewed, from which 53 cases of aseptic meningitis (AM) and 22 cases of bacterial meningitis (BM) were obtained. Twenty-four cases, judged to be free of meningeal disease, obtained during a three-week period in July 1982, were used as controls. The mean percent polymorphonuclear leukocytes by cytocentrifuge was 14.5% +/- 25.4% in controls, 34.2% +/- 29.6% in AM patients, and 86.4% +/- 13.3% in BM patients. Statistically significant differences existed between the means of each group when compared overall (P less than 0.001) and when each group's mean was compared pair-wise to the two other group means in the study (P less than 0.01 to P less than 0.001). Knowledge of the percent PMNs by cytocentrifuge may be useful in distinguishing patients with meningitis, particularly bacterial, from those free of meningeal disease.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002498:Centrifugation / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008581:Meningitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008582:Meningitis, Aseptic / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils; D012189:Retrospective Studies