Neuroanesthesia & neurocritical care
Clinical features, etiologies, and outcomes in adult patients with meningoencephalitis requiring intensive care (EURECA): an international prospective multicenter cohort study
An erratum to this article was published (Intensive Care Med, Feb 2025 ↗)
Authors' conclusion
Meningoencephalitis is a severe neurologic syndrome associated with high mortality and disability rates at 3 months.
Study context
- Population
- Adults admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with meningoencephalitis (acute encephalopathy, CSF pleocytosis, ≥2 clinical/imaging/EEG criteria), 68 centres in 7 countries, 2017–2020589 completed follow-up, included
- Participants
- 599 adults
- Outcome
- Poor functional outcome (modified Rankin scale score 3 to 6)
- Follow-up
- 3 months
Methodological detailsmulticentre, international
- Multicentre
- International
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Poor functional outcome
Poor functional outcome, all patients
298
50.5%, 95% CI 46.6–54.6%
Deaths
152
25.8%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
ICU admission variables independently associated with poor functional outcome (multivariable analysis stratified on centers)
| OR (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Age > 60 years | 1.75 (1.22–2.51) | |
| Immunodepression | 1.98 (1.27–3.08) | |
| Time between hospital and ICU admission > 1 day | 2.02 (1.44–2.99) | |
| Motor component on the GCS | 2.23 (1.49–3.45) | |
| Hemiparesis/hemiplegia | 2.48 (1.47–4.18) | |
| Respiratory failure | 1.76 (1.05–2.94) | |
| Cardiovascular failure | 1.72 (1.07–2.75) | |
| Third-generation cephalosporin on ICU admissionProtective | 0.54 (0.37–0.78) | |
| Acyclovir on ICU admissionProtective | 0.55 (0.38–0.80) | |
| 0.20.5125Odds ratio (log scale) |
Etiologies (591 identified)
- Acute bacterial meningitis
- n = 247, 41.9%
- Infectious encephalitis of viral, subacute bacterial, or fungal/parasitic origin
- n = 140, 23.7%
- Autoimmune encephalitis
- n = 38, 6.4%
- Neoplastic/toxic encephalitis
- n = 11, 1.9%
- Encephalitis of unknown origin
- n = 155, 26.2%
Original publication
Clinical features, etiologies, and outcomes in adult patients with meningoencephalitis requiring intensive care (EURECA): an international prospective multicenter cohort study. Intensive Care Med. Published 6 April 2023. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →