Ten years of clinical experience with adult meningitis at an urban academic medical center.

The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical presentation and bacteriology of adult patients admitted to an urban academic medical center with bacterial meningitis over a 10-year period. In this retrospective review, we identified all adult patients discharged from a tertiary care facility between November 1992 and March 2003 with a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. Data regarding demographics, vital signs, presenting symptoms, seven predisposing factors, body fluid cultures, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings, and mortality were abstracted.

Qualitative beta-hCG urine assays may be misleading in the presence of molar pregnancy: a case report.

Molar pregnancy is a rare complication of pregnancy and the diagnosis is usually confirmed with a markedly elevated beta-hCG and a "snowstorm" appearance on pelvic ultrasound. Patients frequently present with a positive pregnancy test, vaginal bleeding, nausea and vomiting. A 23-year-old woman presented to our Emergency Department with a history of 7 weeks of intermittent vaginal bleeding and 1 h of peri-umbilical abdominal pain.