title: Chronic neutrophilic meningitis caused by Candida albicans.
abstract: Meningitis caused by Candida albicans is a very infrequent entity. We present 3 intravenous drug users with chronic neutrophilic meningitis caused by Candida albicans. The clinical, microbiological and radiological features of the 3 patients are reviewed. The interval between the onset of the disease and the diagnosis was long (from 4 to 12 months). Candida albicans was cultured from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the 3 patients. All of them developed hydrocephalus, meanwhile arachnoiditis was disclosed in two. The therapy with amphotericyn, 5-flucytosine and fluconazole produced clinical improvement and the sterilisation of the CSF in all the 3 cases. Clinicians should be aware of this entity because of diagnosis may be delayed in several months.
authors.affiliation: Servicios de Medicina Interna y Neurología, Hospital Universitario, Madrid.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: del Pozo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bermejo
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martínez-Martín
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benito-León
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002178:Candidiasis, Chronic Mucocutaneous / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008581:Meningitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000382:microbiology*; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology