Autoimmune Meningitis and Encephalitis Lawrence S. Honig INTRODUCTION Meningitis and encephalitis are defined as inflammatory conditions of the meninges or brain, and often occur together as meningoencephalitis, affecting both meninges…
Multiple Sclerosis and Allied Demyelinating Diseases Claire S. Riley INTRODUCTION Among demyelinating diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common and widely recognized. It is the leading cause of nontraumatic…
Pontine and Extrapontine Myelinolysis Gary L. Bernardini Elliott L. Mancall INTRODUCTION In 1959, Adams, Victor, and Mancall described a distinctive, previously unrecognized disease characterized primarily by the symmetric destruction of…
Prion Diseases Lawrence S. Honig INTRODUCTION Prion diseases are a less common group of neurodegenerative disorders. There are several disorders distinguished by clinical presentation and pathoetiologic basis but marked by…
HIV and AIDS Kiran Thakur Ned Sacktor Carolyn Barley Britton Barbara S. Koppel INTRODUCTION Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the most devastating pandemic of the 20th and early 21st centuries….
Viral Infections Shibani S. Mukerji Jennifer L. Lyons “The single biggest threat to man’s continued dominance on the planet is a virus.” — Joshua Lederberg, Nobel Prize winner INTRODUCTION Viral…
Parasitic Infections Gustavo C. Román INTRODUCTION Parasitic infections are a tremendous public health burden in tropical and subtropical regions. Parasitic tropical diseases of the nervous system can be found anywhere…
Chronic Meningitis Joseph R. Zunt Kelly J. Baldwin INTRODUCTION Chronic meningitis is commonly defined as inflammation of the meninges, most often accompanied by a pleocytosis of greater than 5 white…
Other Bacterial Central Nervous System Infections and Toxins Barnett R. Nathan Burk Jubelt INTRODUCTION Acute bacterial meningitis (see Chapter 61) occurs when bacteria invade and infect the leptomeninges, causing an…
Brain Abscess and Parameningeal Infections Gary L. Bernardini BRAIN ABSCESS A brain abscess is a focal purulent infection within the brain parenchyma. A brain abscess starts as a localized area…
