Etiologic structure and clinical characteristics of acute viral infections of the central nervous system with hyperproteinorachia

Clinical syndrome of acute viral meningitis and meningoencephalitis may be induced by different viruses. Etiologic diagnosis may be set by the isolation of the virus from the liquor and by the detection of specific antibodies in the blood and liquor. Our aim was to determine viral etiology of AVI with special reference to hyperproteinorachia. The study was conducted in 55 patients treated at the Clinic of Infectious Diseases in Novi Sad, with clinical picture of acute meningitis or meningoencephalitis, with pleocytosis above 50 ml in the cerebrospinal fluid. Depending on the levels of proteinorachia the patients were divided into the group with proteinorachia levels below 1g/l (34 patients) and above 1 g/l (21 patients). In the first group the most common was herpes simplex- and adenoviral etiology while in the second group most frequently found were choriolymphocytic meningitis virus (LCM) and herpes simplex virus. The protein level was in correlation with the severity of the clinical features and the duration of the treatment.