Abstract
Purpose
To describe the clinical pattern of viral central nervous system (CNS) infections and compare meningitis and encephalitis.
Methods
This is a retrospective study reporting the clinical characteristics and outcome of 138 cases of viral meningitis and meningoencephalitis in a real life experience at a referral centre in Turin, Northern Italy.
Results
Enteroviruses were predominant in younger patients who were mainly presenting with signs of meningitis, had shorter hospital admission and absence of complications, whereas herpesviruses had more often signs of encephalitis, were more frequent in elderly patients, had longer hospital admission and frequent complications and sequelae.
Conclusions
Two main clinical entities with different epidemiology, clinical aspects and prognosis may be identified within the group of viral CNS inefctions.
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Funding
This work was supported by the “Fondazione Carlo Denegri ONLUS”, Torino, Italy.
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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there are no conflicts of interest.
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Francesco G. De Rosa and Pietro Caramello have contributed equally to the paper.
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Calleri, G., Libanore, V., Corcione, S. et al. A retrospective study of viral central nervous system infections: relationship amongst aetiology, clinical course and outcome. Infection 45, 227–231 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-017-0993-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-017-0993-4