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Query: UMLS:C0085437 (bacterial meningitis)
 4,038 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Inflammatory response plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cerebral injury in bacterial meningitis. In this study, we evaluated the cytokine levels of interleukin 1-beta (IL1 beta), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL6) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and determined their correlation with acute clinical complications and with changes in CSF biochemistry. Interleukin 6, TNF alpha and IL1 beta were present in 9/9, 3/9 and 4/9 patients, respectively. The CSFs with detectable TNF alpha or IL1 beta had higher levels of IL6 (p < 0.02), protein (NS) and lower glucose levels (p < 0.02), compared with those in which TNF alpha and IL1 beta were absent. Tumour necrosis factor alpha and IL1 beta levels also correlated with the presence of prolonged fever, fits, spasticity and death (logTNF alpha: r = 0.70, p < 0.05; logIL1 beta: r = 0.62, p = 0.08). The cytokine levels reflect the degree of inflammatory response and are positively correlated with the severity of acute clinical complications. Modulation of this inflammatory response in bacterial meningitis may improve its morbidity and mortality.
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PMID:Inflammatory response in bacterial meningitis: cytokine levels in the cerebrospinal fluid. 759 38

We abstracted the results of all English language reports of the outcomes of bacterial meningitis published after 1955. We used hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis to determine the overall and organism-specific frequencies of death and persistent neurologic sequelae in children 2 months to 19 years of age. A total of 4920 children with acute bacterial meningitis were included in 45 reports that met the inclusion criteria. Children described in the 19 reports of prospectively enrolled cohorts from developed countries had lower mortality (4.8% vs. 8.1%) and were more likely to have no sequelae (82.5% vs. 73.9%). In these 19 studies 1602 children were evaluated for at least 1 sequela after hospital discharge. The mean probabilities of these sequelae were: deafness, 10.5%; bilateral severe or profound deafness, 5.1%; mental retardation, 4.2%; spasticity and/or paresis, 3.5%; seizure disorder, 4.2%; and no detectable sequelae, 83.6%. Mean probabilities of outcomes varied significantly by etiologic bacteria, e.g. mortality: Haemophilus influenzae, 3.8%; Neisseria meningitis, 7.5%; Streptococcus pneumoniae, 15.3%.
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PMID:Outcomes of bacterial meningitis in children: a meta-analysis. 832

Streptococcus agalactiae is a well-known pathogen during pregnancy and in neonates. Among non-pregnant adults, invasive infection, although rare, is showing increasing frequency, especially in chronically ill, immunosuppressed, or older patients. Although rare, the clinical features of meningeal infection caused by S. agalactiae are similar to other bacterial meningitis. The authors report the case of a middle-aged man previously diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and alcoholic liver cirrhosis, who was admitted at the emergency department with a Glasgow Coma Scale of 11/12, generalized spasticity, bilateral Babinski sign, and hypertension. The clinical outcome was bad, with refractory shock and death within 24 hours of hospitalization. The bacteriological work-up isolated S. agalactiae in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), blood, and urine. An autopsy revealed meningoencephalitis, acute myocardial infarction, and pyelonephritis due to septic emboli. The authors point out the atypical CSF findings, the rapid fatal outcome, and the importance of including this pathogen among the etiologic possibilities of invasive infections in this group of patients.
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PMID:Streptococcus agalactiae septicemia in a patient with diabetes and hepatic cirrhosis. 2689 44