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Previous Volume 345:1768-1770 December 13, 2001 Number 24 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Meningitis remains a formidable foe because it often progresses rapidly and causes substantial morbidity and mortality.^1,2,3 The rational management of meningitis has generally included a lumbar puncture to substantiate the diagnosis and help identify the cause. In rare cases, however, this maneuver is followed by cerebral herniation, which is sometimes fatal.^4,5,6 Lumbar puncture generally results in a small, transient decrease in cerebrospinal fluid pressure throughout the subarachnoid space as a result of both the removal of fluid and the continued leakage of cerebrospinal fluid from the opening made in the arachnoid membrane.⁴ In the presence of a space-occupying inflammatory lesion . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Kastenbauer, S., Winkler, F., Pfister, H.-W., Bruzzi, J. F., Brennan, D. D., Tokuda, Y., Nakazato, N., Segal, S., Tattevin, P., Bruneel, F., Regnier, B., Hasbun, R., Quagliarello, V., Steigbigel, N. H. (2002). Cranial CT before Lumbar Puncture in Suspected Meningitis. NEJM 346: 1248-1251 [Full Text]  
• (2002). Is CT Necessary Before Lumbar Puncture in Suspected Meningitis?. JWatch Infect. Diseases 2002: 5-5 [Full Text]