Context: Enterococcal meningitis is very rare among bacterial meningitis and has variable
clinical outcomes. Aims: The purpose of the current study is to evaluate clinical features, therapeutic options
with susceptibility profile, and outcomes of enterococcal meningitis in a tertiary
care hospital. Settings and Design: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of all patients with enterococcal meningitis
over the periods of 4 years. Subjects and Methods: The clinical and laboratory data of all patients with enterococcal meningitis were
evaluated between 2013 and 2016. Results: Six cases of enterococcal meningitis were found (three infant and three adults).
All patients developed meningitis after neurosurgical procedures, and majority of
patients (four out of six) had central nervous system (CNS) devices in situ at the
time of development of meningitis. The causative organism isolated from cerebrospinal
fluid (CSF) culture of all patients was Enterococcus species only. All Enterococcus
spp. were resistant to ampicillin, Amoxicillin-clavulanate, and oxytetracycline and
two isolates were also resistant to vancomycin. Four patients with vancomycin-sensitive
Enterococcus spp. were treated with vancomycin alone for mean periods of 18 days (14–21
days). One patient with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) meningitis was treated
with linezolid alone, and another one requires combination with rifampicin to achieve
microbiological clearance of CSF. CNS devices were removed in all patients. No mortality
was reported in current case series. Conclusions: Enterococcal meningitis is very uncommon, mostly associated with neurosurgical intervention.
Early treatment is associated with favorable outcomes. Removal of CNS devices is recommended
to achieve a clinical cure.
Key-words:
Enterococcus species - nosocomial meningitis - vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus