Objective:

To determine the usefulness of lactate in cerebrospinal fluid as a biomarker of bacterial meningitis in patients treated at the Hospital Universitario de San Vicente Fundación in 2014.

Material and method:

Retrospective cross-sectional study for the evaluation of a diagnostic test, conformed by 103 patients with clinical suspicion of bacterial meningitis and who were asked for lactate, cytochemistry and bacterial culture in cerebrospinal fluid during 2014. Meningitis was classified as confirmed, compatible and discarded.

Results:

A total of 103 patients were included, of whom 69% were men. The average age was 37 years (DS ± 22). The concentration of lactate in cerebrospinal fluid was higher in patients with confirmed bacterial meningitis than in those with discarded (p < 0.001). With a cut-off point of 4,0 mmol/L, a sensitivity of 91% was obtained (95% CI 81-100%) and a specificity of 92% (95% CI 84-99%).

Discussion:

A high sensitivity and specificity was obtained comparable with previous studies, showing that the lactate in cerebrospinal fluid has an important discriminatory power for bacterial meningitis.

Conclusions:

Lactate in cerebrospinal fluid is a fast, sensitive and specific biomarker for the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis using 4.0 mmol/L as discriminant value.

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