Encephalitis and Meningoencephalitis
Encephalitis is one of the most challenging syndromes for physicians to manage, especially because of the high morbidity and mortality and the vast number of causes that need to be…
Aseptic Meningitis and Viral Meningitis
Aseptic meningitis is an inflammatory process of the meninges. It is relatively common and is caused by many different entities. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is characterized by pleocytosis, normal or…
Eosinophilic Meningitis
Introduction Eosinophilic meningitis is a T-helper type 2 (T h 2)-mediated host immune reaction triggered by either infectious or noninfectious etiologies leading to central nervous system (CNS) disease. Defined as…
Parameningeal Infections
Brain Abscess Brain abscesses in children remain a rare entity and, as a result, their management is guided largely by clinical experience and the results of case series. Twenty-five percent…
Fungal Meningitis
Fungi are rare causes of meningitis in children. Fungal meningitis is also frequently chronic, and patients may lack obvious meningeal signs and symptoms, often causing a delay in establishing the…
Bacterial Meningitis Beyond the Neonatal Period
Bacterial meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges affecting the pia, the arachnoid, and the subarachnoid space that occurs in response to bacteria and bacterial products. A discussion of infections…
Mediastinitis
The mediastinum is the extrapleural portion of the thoracic cavity situated between the two pleural sacs. The superior and inferior portions are separated arbitrarily by a line extending from the…
Acute Rheumatic Fever
Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is an inflammatory disease of the heart, joints, central nervous system, and subcutaneous tissues that develops after a nasopharyngeal infection by one of the group A…
Myocarditis
Myocarditis is defined clinically and pathologically as inflammation of the myocardium. The clinical presentation and cause may be quite varied. This entity may go unrecognized in numerous patients whose illness…
Infectious Pericarditis
Purulent pericarditis generally refers to bacterial infection of the pericardium. Inflammation of the pericardium may result from numerous nonbacterial microorganisms, however, or may occur with a variety of noninfectious illnesses…
