OnlineMedEd: Infectious Disease - Brain Inflammation

Question 1

____________ in a person with a headache and fever are suggestive of a central etiology.

Answer 1

Photophobia, phonophobia, nausea, and vomiting

Question 2

If you see fever, headache, and a focal neurologic deficit, think _____________.

Answer 2

brain abscess

Question 3

The only encephalitis that “matters” is ___________.

Answer 3

HSV

Question 4

What is the mnemonic for when an LP is not safe?

Answer 4

FAILS
• Focal neurologic deficit
•Altered mental status
•Immunocompromised
•Lesions (over the site of the LP) 
•Seizures

Question 5

If an LP in a febrile headache patient is “unsafe,” then what should you do?

Answer 5

Give antibiotics and then do a CT. If the CT is negative, then you can do an LP.

Question 6

According to Dustyn, what nonbacterial causes of meningitis do you need to know?

Answer 6

• TB: weight loss, fevers, hemoptysis, and night sweats
• Lyme: targetoid rash
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
• Cryptococcus: AIDS patient with increased opening pressure with positive cryptococcal antigen test

Question 7

For a brain abscess, give ____________.

Answer 7

antibiotics and drainage

Question 8

In addition to mentioning involvement of the temporal lobes, examiners might mention _____________ to guide you to the diagnosis of HSV encephalitis.

Answer 8

hemorrhagic LP