Joseph R Berger MD

Cryptococcal meningitis

Cryptococcal meningitis is the most common fungal meningitis and is commonly observed in AIDS. Other immunosuppressive conditions also predispose to its development, such as corticosteroid administration; however, it may also be seen in immunologically normal persons. Headache is the most common of symptoms but it is not universally present, and papilledema occurs in less than one third of persons. On occasion, cryptococcal infection of the CNS presents as mass lesion in the brain.

Tuberculosis of the CNS

Meningitis is the most common neurologic complication of tuberculosis, presenting with fever, headache and stiff neck along with focal neurological deficits, behavioral changes, alterations in consciousness, hemiparesis and hemiplegia, and movement disorders.

Neurosyphilis

Neurosyphilis is the occurrence of neurologic complications due to infection with Treponema pallidum. The spectrum of neurosyphilis is broad. The most common form of neurosyphilis currently diagnosed is asymptomatic neurosyphilis. Among the symptomatic disorders of neurosyphilis, the earliest manifestation is syphilitic meningitis, which typically occurs within the first 12 months of infection and may accompany features of secondary syphilis.

Cat-scratch disease