ABSTRACT Cryptococcal meningitis is the most common cause of opportunistic meningitis in HIV-infected patients in Brazil and causes unacceptable high mortality rates. In this study, HIV-infected patients with a first episode of culture-proven cryptococcal meningitis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were prospectively included in order to evaluate sensitivity of cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) lateral flow assay (LFA) in serum, CSF, whole blood (fingerstick), and fresh urine. In addition, HIV-infected patients with other neurological confirmed diseases were included in order to evaluate the specificity of CrAg LFA in serum. Twenty patients with cryptococcal meningitis were included and in 19 of them, CrAg LFA in CSF, serum, and whole blood were positive (95% sensitivity). In 18 patients, India ink test was positive in CSF (90% sensitivity), and in 16 cases, CrAg LFA was positive in urine (80% sensitivity). Thirty-six HIV-infected patients with other neurological diseases had negative results of CrAg LFA in serum (100% specificity). In conclusion, CrAg LFA in serum, CSF, and whole blood showed high sensitivity and specificity. Whole blood CrAg LFA seems to be a good and reliable strategy to improve AIDS-related cryptococcal meningitis diagnosis in Brazil.

Os autores fazem uma revisão de 103 casos de endocardites infecciosas, dos quais 52 apresentaram manifestações neurológicas. Dos 52 que não tiveram problemas neurológicos, 39 faleceram 175%), enquanto que dos 51 que não tiveram alterações do sistema nervoso, apenas 18 evoluíram para o óbito 135,3%). A endocardite infecciosa com manifestações neurológicas, na presente série, foi dominante no sexo masculino. Os grupos etários mais envolvidos foram as crianças, adolescentes e adultos jovens. Houve outro pico importante em pacientes acima de 50 anos. Os critérios para o diagnóstico de endocardite infecciosa utilizados no presente estudo, foram os clássicos, acrescidos de outros considerados de extrema utilidade, à medida que a experiência foi sendo acumulada, acompanhando paralelamente as modificações dos padrões etiológicos, assim como as alterações dos espectros clínicos da doença, conseqüentes a muitos fatores aqui discutidos. Os principais distúrbios neurológicos observados foram as manifestações meningeias, 25/52 148,1%), alterações do comportamento, 20/52 (38,4%), fenômenos motores (paralisias e paresias), 20/52 (38,4%). Alterações do nível de consciência (torpor ou coma), ao lado de outras menos comuns, como cefaléia 16/52 (26,9%), convulsões, 10/52 (19,2%), afasia 7/52 (13,5%) e manchas de Roth, 7/53 (13,5%). As manifestações neurológicas frequentemente foram múltiplas em um mesmo paciente. Nas formas de endocardite, foram em muitos casos praticamente as alterações que abriram e dominaram a cena clínica. As mais comuns foram: síndrome meningeia, síndrome vascular e encefalopatia tóxica. Foi difícil, em conseqüência de múltiplas manifestações neurológicas num mesmo paciente, estabelecer critérios entre a lesão neurológica e o prognóstico, embora o coma profundo, as convulsões, os distúrbios motores acentuados, a meningite e as alterações do comportamento, isoladamente ou em associação, façam com que o mesmo seja bem mais sério. O germe mais encontrado em nossa série foi oStaphylococcus aureus, relacionado com formas agudas da infecção endocárdica, aliado a processos destrutivos valvulares e a sérias alterações neurológicas tais como meningite, encefalite, infartos, hemorragias e abcessos cerebrais. Os principais achados neurológicos referentes à patologia, no estudo de 15 casos, são apresentados ao lado de conclusões tiradas de reflexões sobre o material analisado e da experiência vivida. Uma revisão da literatura é feita desde os trabalhos iniciais sobre a doença até os dias de hoje, ficando evidenciada a importância do tema pelas grandes contribuições apresentadas pelos diferentes autores.

The authors make a revision of 103 cases of infectious endocarditis, 52 of which brought about neurologic manifestations. In the 52 cases showing neurologic problems, 39 died (75%), while in the other 51 cases showing no alterations of the nervous system only 18 evolved to death (35,3%). The present series of infectious endocarditis with neurologic manifestations was dominat in the mate sex. The more affected age groups were children, adolescents and young adults. Another significant peak was shown by patients more than 50 years old. For the diagnosis of infectious endocarditis in the present study, classical criteria were adopted in addition to a few other ones which were recognized to be extremely useful in the process of accumulating experience, as paralel observation was applied to those changes of etiological patterns and to those alterations of clinical specters of the disease, which resulted from many of the factors here described. The major neurologic diserders detected were meningeal manifestations, 25/52 (48,1%), behavior alterations, 20/52 (38,4%) motor phenomena (paralysis and paresis), 20/52 (38,4%), alterations of the level of consciousness (torpor or coma), plus a few less commonones, such as cephalea, 16/52 (30,7%), alterations of cranial pai rs, 14/52 (26,9%), convulsions, 10/52 (19,2%),aphasia, 7/52 (13,5%). Multiple neurologic manifestations were frequent in the same patient. These alterations were practically the opening and dominant feature of the clinical scene in many cases of acute endocardites. Most common were: meningeal syndrome, vascular syndrome and toxic encephalopathy. Due to multiple neurologic manifestations in the same patient it was difficult to establish criteria linking the neurologic lesion to the prognostic although in states of profound coma, convulsion, pronounced motor disorders, meningitis and behavior alterations, isolated or in association, this prognostic becomes rather more serious. The germ more often found in our series was the staphylococcus aureus, related to acute forms of endocardiac infection, associated with valve destructive process and serious neurologic alterations, such as meningitis, encephalitis, infarcts, hemorrhages and cerebral abscesses. A description is given of the major neurologic findings related to the pathology and of the conclusions draw upon reflexion over the material analysed and the experience collected. A review of the existing literature on the disease, from the initial to the lates studies, clearly points out to the importance of the theme to which different authors have made remarkable contributions.