Neoplastic meningitis differential diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sujit Routray, M.D. [2]

Overview

Neoplastic meningitis must be differentiated from infections (meningitis, Lyme disease, neurocysticercosis), neoplastic (intracerebral metastasis, dural metastasis), inflammatory (rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, polychondritis), and granulomatous disorders (sarcoidosis, histiocytosis, Wegener's granulomatosis, vasculitis).

Differentiating Neoplastic Meningitis from other Diseases

• Differential Diagnosis for Neoplastic Meningitis:

1. Meningitis from infectious causes - infectious meningitis may to some degree manifest like neoplastic meningitis due to meningeal irritation. This include viral, bacterial, fungal and HIV-associated causes of meningitis.
2. Neurosarcoidosis
3. Vasculitis - the generalized nature of vessel involvement in these diseases may, to some extent involve the meninges. Vasculitis documented to present like neoplastic meningitis include Kawasaki disease, Takayasu arteritis, Polyarteritis nodosa, microscopic polyarteritis nodosa and Wegener granulomatosis.
4. Systemic Connective Tissue Diseases - particularly SLE and Sjogrens syndrome share some of the manifestation of neoplastic meningitis.

Neoplastic meningitis must be differentiated from:

Type of disease	Differential diagnoses of neoplastic meningitis
Infections	Pyogenic meningitis Viral meningitis Fungal meningitis Mycobacterial meningitis Lyme disease Neurocysticercosis
Neoplastic	Intracerebral metastasis Dural metastasis
Inflammatory disorders	Rheumatoid arthritis Multiple sclerosis Polychondritis
Granulomatous disorders	Sarcoidosis Histiocytosis Wegener's granulomatosis Vasculitis

[Disease name] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 1], [clinical feature 2], and [clinical feature 3], such as [differential dx1], [differential dx2], and [differential dx3].

OR

[Disease name] must be differentiated from [[differential dx1], [differential dx2], and [differential dx3].

Differentiating [Disease name] from other Diseases

[Disease name] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 1], [clinical feature 2], and [clinical feature 3], such as [differential dx1], [differential dx2], and [differential dx3].

OR

[Disease name] must be differentiated from [differential dx1], [differential dx2], and [differential dx3].

OR

As [disease name] manifests in a variety of clinical forms, differentiation must be established in accordance with the particular subtype. [Subtype name 1] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 1], such as [differential dx1] and [differential dx2]. In contrast, [subtype name 2] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 2], such as [differential dx3] and [differential dx4].

Differentiating [disease name] from other diseases on the basis of [symptom 1], [symptom 2], and [symptom 3]

On the basis [symptom 1], [symptom 2], and [symptom 3], [disease name] must be differentiated from [disease 1], [disease 2], [disease 3], [disease 4], [disease 5], and [disease 6].

Diseases	Clinical manifestations						Para-clinical findings							Gold standard	Additional findings
	Symptoms			Physical examination
							Lab Findings			Imaging			Histopathology
	Symptom 1	Symptom 2	Symptom 3	Physical exam 1	Physical exam 2	Physical exam 3	Lab 1	Lab 2	Lab 3	Imaging 1	Imaging 2	Imaging 3
Differential Diagnosis 1
Differential Diagnosis 2
Differential Diagnosis 3
Diseases	Symptom 1	Symptom 2	Symptom 3	Physical exam 1	Physical exam 2	Physical exam 3	Lab 1	Lab 2	Lab 3	Imaging 1	Imaging 2	Imaging 3	Histopathology	Gold standard	Additional findings
Differential Diagnosis 4
Differential Diagnosis 5
Differential Diagnosis 6

References

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