Pathophysiological correlates in bacterial meningitis.

This review summarises briefly several areas of importance in the pathogenesis of bacterial meningitis. These subjects include: (1) factors that predispose to the development of disease and relevant host defense mechanisms; (2) microbial virulence factors; (3) the route(s) of entry for bacteria into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); (4) the role of pathological changes in the central nervous system; (5) particulate clearance mechanisms operative in the CSF system; and (6) the physiological alteration in normal intracranial homeostatic processes.