The spectrum of primary blastomycotic meningitis: a review of central nervous system blastomycosis.

Three cases of meningitis with initial and exclusive neurological involvement prompted a review of the clinical, cerebrospinal fluid, and pathological findings in an additional 78 patients with central nervous system blastomycosis. The first patient of the 3 had progressive cerebellar dysfunction as the result of chronic basilar meningitis. The second had a C8-T1 radiculopathy without other evidence of superior sulcus syndrome, and subsequent acute fatal meningitis. The third had aseptic, benign, self-limited meningitis followed by clinically obvious systemic blastomycosis. Diagnosis is difficult, and it is likely that other cases have been presumptively treated for tuberculous meningitis. A more aggressive approach to diagnosis is proposed that takes into account the condition of the patient, the likelihood of dissemination at necropsy, and the frequent meningeal infections that are negative on culture of lumbar CSF.