BrainWaves #41 Teaching through clinical cases: Not-quite-so-septic meningitis

MedLink Neurology Podcast is delighted to feature selected episodes from BrainWaves, courtesy of James E Siegler MD, its originator and host. BrainWaves is an academic audio podcast whose mission is to educate medical providers through clinical cases and topical reviews in neurology, medicine, and the humanities, and episodes originally aired from 2016 to 2021. Originally released: July 18, 2017 This week's BrainWaves episode features a case of a middle-aged woman with progressive headaches and cranial neuropathies. The diagnosis of aseptic meningitis is made, and a differential diagnosis is illustrated. BrainWaves podcasts and online content are intended for medical education only and should not be used to guide medical decision-making in routine clinical practice. Any cases discussed in this episode are fictional and do not contain any patient health-identifying information. REFERENCES Chamberlain MC, Glantz M. Myelomatous meningitis. Cancer 2008;112(7):1562-7. PMID 18260094 Ginsberg L, Kidd D. Chronic and recurrent meningitis. Pract Neurol 2008;8(6):348-61. PMID 19015295 Hasbun R, Abrahams J, Jekel J, Quagliarello VJ. Computed tomography of the head before lumbar puncture in adults with suspected meningitis. N Engl J Med 2001;345(24):1727-33. PMID 11742046 Jolles S, Sewell WA, Leighton C. Drug-induced aseptic meningitis: diagnosis and management. Drug Saf 2000;22(3):215-26. PMID 10738845 Lee BE, Chawla R, Langley JM, et al. Paediatric Investigators Collaborative Network on Infections in Canada (PICNIC) study of aseptic meningitis. BMC Infect Dis 2006;6:68. PMID 16603090 Logan SA, MacMahon E. Viral meningitis. BMJ 2008;336(7634):36-40. PMID 18174598 Negrini B, Kelleher KJ, Wald ER. Cerebrospinal fluid findings in aseptic versus bacterial meningitis. Pediatrics 2000;105(2):316-9. PMID 10654948 Nieuwenhuizen L, Biesma DH. Central nervous system myelomatosis: review of the literature. Eur J Haematol 2008;80(1):1-9. PMID 17961180 Nigrovic LE. Aseptic meningitis. Handb Clin Neurol 2013;112:1153-6. PMID 23622323 Sobol U, Stiff P. Neurologic aspects of plasma cell disorders. Handb Clin Neurol 2014;120:1083-99. PMID 24365373 van de Beek D, de Gans J, Spanjaard L, Weisfelt M, Reitsma JB, Vermeulen M. Clinical features and prognostic factors in adults with bacterial meningitis. N Engl J Med 2004;351(18):1849-59. PMID 15509818  We believe that the principles expressed or implied in the podcast remain valid, but certain details may be superseded by evolving knowledge since the episode's original release date.