Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0085437 (bacterial meningitis)
 4,038 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Usefulness of cell count and concentrations of glucose and total protein in CSF are analysed with regard to the diagnosis of leptomeningeal metastasis from solid and hematological malignancy. A group of patients with pleiocytosis in CSF of non-neoplastic origin served as a reference group. It is concluded that these routine tests have limited value for the determination of the viral, bacterial or neoplastic etiology of meningeal disorders. The most important value of these tests appears to be the discriminating capacity of the finding of an increased number of polymorphonuclear leucocytes, regularly found in patients with acute bacterial meningitis.
 ...
PMID:Routine investigations of the CSF with special reference to meningeal malignancy and infectious meningitis. 337 45

Central nervous system (CNS) infections in immunocompromised hosts are often accompanied by subtle disorders because immunosuppression usually decreases the inflammatory response. CNS infections in immunocompromised patients are usually caused by organisms different from those found in the general population. The organism causing CNS infection in an immunocompromised host can often be predicted if the type of immune abnormality of the patient is known. The common causes of CNS infection in immunocompromised hosts are reviewed here. Meningitis in patients with neutropenia is usually due to enteric Gram negative bacilli that live in the patient's own digestive tract. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is most common and is followed by E. Coli, Klebsiella, Enterobacter and Proteus. A major risk in patients with abnormal immunoglobulins or splenectomy is infection with encapsulated bacteria, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitidis. Meningitis caused by any of the encapsulated bacteria can be fulminant. Listeria monocytogenes is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in patients with impaired cellular immunity. Nocardia asteroides is a leading cause of brain abscess in patients with hematologic malignancy. Most patients have evidence of concomitant pulmonary lesions. Fungi are among the most common organisms involving the CNS in immunocompromised hosts. Susceptible patients include those with lymphoma or leukemia and those who receive therapies aimed at suppressing delayed hypersensitivity. Cryptococcus neoformans is a common fungal cause of CNS infection in immunocompromised hosts. The primary site of infection is the lung. Spread to the CNS is via the blood stream. The clinical course is highly variable: meningitis, meningoencephalitis and focal mass lesions. Candida causes meningitis or meningoencephalitis characterized by multiple small abscesses in neutropenic hosts. Organisms reach the CNS via the blood stream usually from the digestive tract or infected intravenous catheters. Aspergillus causes brain abscess, cerebral infarction and focal meningitis in patients with neutropenia. The primary infection is in the lung. The parasites that infest the CNS of immunocompromised patients are usually those that exploit a T-lymphocyte, mononuclear phagocyte host defect. The most common are Toxoplasma gondii and Strongyloides stercoralis. There have been a few cases of amebiasis with dissemination to the brain in patients with hematologic malignancies. Toxoplasma gondii causes major CNS disease in immunocompromised hosts: meningoencephalitis or mass lesions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:[Infections of the central nervous system in malignant hemopathies]. 372 88

Fungal meningoencephalitides are one of the most menacing infectious complications in hematologic cancer patients in the presence of myelotoxic agranulocytosis. Due to diagnostic difficulties, mortality in these cases can be as high as 100%. The causative agent of cryptococcosis is Cryptococcus neoformans; damage to the brain arachnoid membranes and substance is diagnosed in 70-90% of cases. Unlike bacterial meningitis, the meningeal symptoms typical of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis are not characteristic. The paper gives a case of successful treatment for cryptococcal meningoencephalitis in the presence of agranulocytosis, the diagnosis of which is based on the detection of abnormal MR signal foci by magnetic resonance imaging and identification of the cryptococcal antigen-glucuronoxylomannan in spinal fluid.
 ...
PMID:[Diagnosis of cryptococcal encephalitis in a patient with mature B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia]. 2036 3