Typical Cerebrospinal fluid findings in central nervous system infections
To interpret CSF fluid, you look at the the color of the tap, look for whether it was bloody or not. After you have looked at that, you focus on three things: Glucose, Protein, and total WBC count.
NB: The spectrum of cerebrospinal fluid values in bacterial meningitis is so wide that the absence of one or more of these findings is of little value.
| Glucose | Protein | Total white blood cell count (cells/microL) | |||||
| <10 mg/dL or <0.6 mmol/L. |
10 to 40 mg/dL or 0.6 to 2.2 mmol/L. |
100 to 500 mg/dL or 1 to 5 g/L. |
50 to 300 mg/dL or 0.5 to 3 g/L. | >1000 | 100 to 1000 | 5 to 100 | |
| More common | Bacterial meningitis | Bacterial meningitis | Bacterial meningitis | Viral meningitis
Nervous system Lyme disease (neuroborreliosis) Neurosyphilis TB meningitis |
Bacterial meningitis | Bacterial or viral meningitis
TB meningitis |
Early bacterial meningitis
Viral meningitis Neurosyphilis TB meningitis |
| Less common | TB meningitis
Fungal meningitis |
Neurosyphilis
Some viral infections (such as mumps and LCMV) |
Some cases of mumps and LCMV | Encephalitis | Encephalitis | ||
TB: tuberculosis; LCMV: lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus.
“Cerebrospinal fluid protein concentrations may be higher in some patients with tuberculous meningitis; concentrations >500 mg/dL are an indication of blood-brain barrier disruption or increased intracerebral production of immunoglobulins, and extremely high concentrations, in the range of 2 to 6 g/dL, may be found in association with subarachnoid block.”
Read more at
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/cerebrospinal-fluid-physiology-and-utility-of-an-examination-in-disease-states