Proposal for a simplified approach to suspected meningitis case diagnosis: experience report of a reference service in the state of Piauí, Brazil, 2007-2016.

Objective: to describe a simplified protocol to diagnose suspected cases of meningitis.

Methods: this is an experience report on the approach to diagnosing meningitis at the Tropical Diseases Reference Service in the state of Piauí, Brazil, between 2007 and 2016; information was extracted from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) and the laboratory record book; the chi-square test was used to compare epidemiological surveillance indicators based on final meningitis case classification; the Phi coefficient was used to verify the correlation between presumed diagnosis and laboratory-confirmed diagnosis.

Results: considering the 4,096 cases of meningitis investigated, there was a reduction in the generic classification of meningitis cases from 72% to 47% (p<0.

Soap bubble appearance in brain magnetic resonance imaging: cryptococcal meningoencephalitis.

Although cryptococcal infections begin in the lungs, meningoencephalitis is the most frequently encountered manifestation of cryptococcosis among individuals with advanced immunosuppression. As the infection progresses along the Virchow-Robin spaces, these structures may become dilated with mucoid material produced by the capsule of the organism. We report a case of a 24-year-old man with cryptococcal meningoencephalitis in which magnetic resonance imaging showed clusters of gelatinous pseudocysts in the periventricular white matter, basal ganglia, mammillary bodies, midbrain peduncles and nucleus dentatus with a soap bubble appearance.