[Bacterial meningitis: determination of pathogens and therapeutic management].
Recent aspects of pathogen determination and therapeutic management are reviewed based on a clinical analysis of 50 of our adult patients with bacterial meningitis (BM). The sensitivity for detecting pathogens using gram-stained smears and cultures of CSF was high in untreated patients, but low in patients previously treated with antibiotics. Latex agglutination for antibodies of pathogens is rapid and has a potential for determining pathogens in partially treated meningitis. The PCR also has a potential for determining pathogens in pre-treated, culture-negative cases and for detecting whether the bacterial pathogen is resistant or sensitive to antibiotics. The initial empiric regimen of antibiotics has been modified with elevation in the detection rate of drug-resistant bacilli. The proportion of patients undergoing treatment with VCM and/or Carbapenems has recently increased at our department. A combination of dexamethasone under administration of antibiotics has also been established as effective in adult BM. On admission, some patients are difficult to diagnose as BM rather than herpes simplex encephalitis (HSVE). A serum CRP value of >2.0 mg/dl proved useful for such different diagnosis in our patients. The predictors of a poor outcome based on multivariate logistic analysis in our BM patients were level of unconsciousness and sepsis.
Kamei
Satoshi
S
Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine.
D000328:Adult; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*