Corticosteroid Treatment for Central Nervous System Infections
- Author:
Dong Hoon SHIN
1
Author Information
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords: Steroids; Meningitis, Bacterial; Tuberculosis; Encephalitis
- MeSH: Brain; Central Nervous System Infections; Central Nervous System; Communicable Diseases; Encephalitis; Humans; Inflammation; Meningitis, Bacterial; Mortality; Simplexvirus; Spinal Cord; Steroids; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Meningeal
- From: Journal of Neurocritical Care 2017;10(2):69-75
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
- Abstract: Infectious diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) cause inflammatory processes within the brain and spinal cord that can lead to morbidity and mortality in a high proportion of patients. Pharmacological strategies to dampen inflammation have been investigated, and steroids are one of the adjunctive treatments for bacterial meningitis, tuberculous meningitis, and herpes simplex virus encephalitis. In this paper, we review the recent literature that provides guidelines for the use of steroids in combination with appropriate antimicrobial therapy, and we discuss how systemic steroid treatment is an important aspect of treatment regimens for CNS infectious diseases.
