Difference between revisions of "IPLab:Lab 9:Bacterial Meningitis"

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IPLab9BacterialMeningitis8.jpg|This photomicrograph of brain tissue demonstrates diffuse edema.  
 
IPLab9BacterialMeningitis8.jpg|This photomicrograph of brain tissue demonstrates diffuse edema.  
 
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== Study Questions ==
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* <spoiler text="What is the most common etiologic agent that causes bacterial meningitis?">The specific etiologic agent varies with the age of the patient:
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* in neonates: the organisms include Escherichia coli and the group B streptococci;
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* in infants and children: S. pneumoniae and N. meningitidis pervade in immunized children (H. influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine is routine in the U.S.), while Haemophilus influenzae is more prominent in non-immunized children;
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* in adolescents and in young adults: Neisseria meningitidis;
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* in the elderly: Streptococcus pneumoniae and Listeria.</spoiler>
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* <spoiler text="What organism caused meningitis in this case and why?">Burn patients are at high risk for developing Pseudomonas infections. In this case, the patient was debilitated due to the extensive severe burn and developed a Pseudomonas septicemia which then led to the Pseudomonas meningitis.</spoiler>
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* <spoiler text="Why is there fibrin in these lesions?">Because of the acute inflammatory reaction, there is extravasation of fibrin as well as the recruitment of neutrophils.</spoiler>
  
 
{{IPLab 9}}
 
{{IPLab 9}}
  
 
[[Category: IPLab:Lab 9]]
 
[[Category: IPLab:Lab 9]]

Revision as of 15:54, 21 August 2013

Clinical Summary[edit]

This 45-year-old white female with a history of psychiatric illness sustained self-inflicted third degree burns over 49% of her body surface. After initially doing well under treatment, she developed severe respiratory distress and became comatose. Antemortem blood cultures were positive for Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Autopsy Findings[edit]

At autopsy the principal findings were in the lungs and brain. Bronchopneumonia was present in all lobes of both lungs. The brain weighed 1450 grams and the leptomeninges contained a thick yellow purulent exudate most prominent over the frontoparietal areas and at the base of the brain.

Images[edit]

Study Questions[edit]


An average adult female brain weighs 1400 grams (range: 1100 to 1700 grams).