This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Investigations

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

In patients with impaired consciousness, signs of raised intracranial pressure or focal signs then a CT of the head should be done before lumbar puncture.

In herpes simplex encephalitis there may be long attentuation lesions in one or both temporal lobes. There may be diffuse brain oedema. An MRI scan is more sensitive at detecting early encephalitic changes.

The CSF is characterised by:

  • moderately increased cell count, mostly lymphocytes
  • raised protein
  • normal glucose
  • viral antigens or nucleic acids may be detected

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.