Laboratory Parameters of Cerebrospinal Fluid in Individuals with Enterovirus Meningitis

Introduction: Meningitis is the leading infectious syndrome that affects the central nervous system, and most cases are caused by viral infections, mainly enterovirus. The clinical diagnosis for meningitis etiology still presents major challenges. The analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), white blood cells, red blood cells, glucose, protein, and lactate in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) provides the first clues to the diagnosis. However, the reference values of some parameters can suffer changes. Objective: Analyze the laboratory parameters of CSF in patients with enterovirus meningitis, and then, theirrelationship by age group. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted based on data from a CSF reference service, located in São Paulo, Brazil, on 202 individuals who had enterovirus meningitis. Data was analysed by the Shapiro–Wilk and Kruskal–Wallis tests (CI = 95%, p < 0.05) and represented by the median and percentile 25 and 75, respectively. Results: The cytological and biochemical parameters of the CSF shows us that proteins had median concentrations of 33.0mg/ dL, glucose of 57.0mg/dl, lactate of 19.0mg/dL and the leukocyte of 119.0 cells/mm3, with a predominance of lymphocytes (42%). It was found that age can cause cytological and biochemical changes in the parameters of CSF. Children younger than 2 years had a range percentage of neutrophils and monocytes different then children aged < 2 and < 6 years, and aged < 6 and < 10 years. The protein concentration range in CSF as well as glucose track can also change according to age. Conclusion: The parameters of the CSF in patients with enteroviral meningitis showed similar median concentrations to those found in the literature. Age may lead to changes in cytological and biochemical parameters of CSF. CSF protein and glucose concentrations also change according to age.