Early Diagnosis of Native and Device-associated Meningitis

Device-associated meningitis is a severe complication after implantation of various central nervous system (CNS) devices such as ventriculoperitoneal (VP) and ventriculoatrial (VA) shunts, external ventricular drains (EVD), lumbar drains (ELD) and intrathecal pumps. In contrast to native meningitis, these infections are hard to diagnose both clinically and on the laboratory basis due to (i) atypical clinical manifestation, (ii) overlapping inflammation following surgery, and (iii) common culture negativity due to previous antibiotic therapy and slow growth of low-virulent pathogens. Also, device-associated infections are difficult to differentiate from aseptic shunt failure (dysfunction) or "chemical meningitis" caused by underlying neurosurgical condition that prompted the placement of the CNS device (e.g. intracranial hemorrhage). Both native and device-associated meningitis carry substantial morbidity and mortality. Rapid and reliable diagnosis of meningitis is critical for initiating and choosing optimal treatment and minimizing the brain damage. Since treatment is different in septic than aseptic meningitis, it is paramount to diagnose or exclude septic meningitis as soon as possible. Several new diagnostic methods, such as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) procalcitonin, interleukin-6 and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been proposed for rapid diagnosis of meningitis. However, insufficient sensitivity and/or specificity, long time until test result, and complexity in handling or interpretation of results limit their use in clinical routine. In previous studies CSF D-lactate test showed good specificity and sensitivity in patients with native meningitis. This biomarker is pathogen-specific - in contrast to other currently used host-specific biomarkers (leukocyte count, L-lactate, procalcitonin). However, no study on effectiveness of D-lactate test for the diagnosis of device-associated meningitis has been performed. Successful management of device-associated m