Significance of Cerebrospinal Fluid C-reactive Protein Level in Pyogenic and Non-pyogenic Meningitis in Adults

摘要

Acute pyogenic meningitis is the most common cause ofsuppurative infection in the central nervous system (CNS).The prognosis of pyogenic meningitis is criticallydependent on a rapid and causal implementation ofimmediate treatment. However, clinical and biochemicalparameters available are not reliable enough except whenbacteria are found in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) undera microscope. Therefore, the initial treatment of acutepyogenic meningitis is most of the time presumptive. Useof biological markers, especially lymphokines and acutephase reactants has been proposed to facilitate initialdiagnosis. Today, C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of themost widely used inflammatory markers in the emergencydepartment to distinguish bacterial from non-bacterialinfections.