Test 1 Flashcards
What is meningitis?
An inflammatory disease of the leptomeninges characterized by an abnormal number of white blood cells in the cerebrospinal fluid.
What are the three parts of the meninges?
- Pia mater
- Arachnoid mater
- Dura mater
What is bacterial meningitis?
Infection of the arachnoid mater and cerebrospinal fluid in the subarachnoid space and cerebral ventricles.
What factors determine the pace of bacterial meningitis?
Host and microbial virulence factors.
What is the classic triad of acute bacterial meningitis?
- Fever
- Nuchal rigidity
- Change in mental status
What percentage of patients present with the classic triad of symptoms?
41 percent.
Which age group more commonly presents with the classic triad of acute bacterial meningitis?
Older patients (age >60 years).
What are the most common clinical features of bacterial meningitis?
- Severe headache (84 percent)
- Fever > 38°C (74 percent)
- Stiff neck (74 percent)
- Glasgow Coma scale <14 (71 percent)
- Nausea (62 percent)
What is the significance of presenting with at least two of four symptoms in bacterial meningitis?
Almost all patients (95 percent) present with at least two of four symptoms.
What is the consequence of the absence of classic findings in bacterial meningitis?
It essentially excludes the presence of bacterial meningitis.
What are less common manifestations of bacterial meningitis?
- Seizures (23 percent)
- Aphasia or hemi- or monoparesis (22 percent)
- Coma (13 percent)
- Cranial nerve palsy (9 percent)
- Rash (8 percent)
- Papilledema (4 percent)
What concomitant infections may occur with bacterial meningitis?
- Sinusitis (34 percent)
- Otitis (34 percent)
- Pneumonia (9 percent)
- Endocarditis (1 percent)
True or False: Any form of bacterial meningitis that is untreated is almost uniformly fatal.
True.
Fill in the blank: The most common clinical feature of bacterial meningitis is _______.
[severe headache]
