- Elevated white cell count in the CSF can be seen in a number of infectious and non-infectious processes
| Cause | N | Cell Count (10E6/L)
Median [Range] |
|---|---|---|
| Infectious (60%) | ||
| Bacterial meningitis | 177 | 1707 [30-54800] |
| Brain abscess | 4 | 352 [22-828] |
| Cryptococcal meningitis | 4 | 93 [19-467] |
| Encephalitis | 48 | 117 [12-1580] |
| Endocarditis | 9 | 61 [12-285] |
| Erysipelas | 1 | 14 |
| Fungal meningitis | 3 | 682 [14-1947] |
| Herpes zoster | 1 | 72 |
| Acute HIV | 4 | 47 [13-87] |
| Infection without focus | 5 | 11 [10-64] |
| Infectious radiculitis | 1 | 170 |
| Influenza | 1 | 12 |
| Lyme neuroborreliosis | 90 | 121 [10-1436] |
| Necrotizing fasciitis | 1 | 13 |
| Neurosyphilis | 14 | 23 [10-123] |
| Peritonitis | 1 | 13 |
| PML | 1 | 36 |
| Pneumonia | 22 | 12 [10-112] |
| Bacteremia | 39 | 29 [10-300] |
| Spinal abscess | 5 | 72 [10-82] |
| Subdural empyema | 1 | 1480 |
| Tonsillitis | 1 | 10 |
| Toxoplasmosis | 2 | 131 [10-251] |
| Tuberculous meningitis | 11 | 213 [12-576] |
| Ventricular shunt infection | 7 | 287 [13-1186] |
| Viral meningitis | 197 | 177 [10-1744] |
| Inflammatory (4%) | ||
| Acute transverse myelitis | 7 | 65 [24-333] |
| Bell palsy | 8 | 22 [17-60] |
| Brain vasculitis | 7 | 33 [10-225] |
| Conus radiculitis | 1 | 116 |
| Elsberg syndrome | 2 | 56 [24-88] |
| Transient headache and neurological deficits with cerebrospinal fluid lymphocytosis (HaNDL) | 2 | 51 [35-67] |
| Mononeuritis multiplex | 1 | 63 |
| Neurosarcoidosis | 3 | 27 [10-33] |
| Optic neuritis | 0 | 27 [10-44] |
| Polyradiculitis | 6 | 55 [11-82] |
| Reactive serositis | 1 | 62 |
| Syringomyelitis | 1 | 141 |
| Neurodegenerative (7%) | ||
| Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis | 1 | 13 |
| Atypical parkinsonism | 3 | 14 [10-28] |
| Dementia not otherwise specified | 2 | 10 [10] |
| Demyelinating disease | 67 | 19 [10-119] |
| Parkinson disease | 1 | 17 |
| Neoplastic (5%) | ||
| Acute lymphoblastic leukemia | 2 | 35 [11-58] |
| Brain metastasis | 7 | 69 [10-261] |
| Brain cancer | 10 | 68 [18-1240] |
| Chronic leukemia | 2 | 21 [15-27] |
| Disseminated cancer | 9 | 20 [10-64] |
| Lymphoma | 19 | 24 [10-1448] |
| Paraneoplastic syndrome not otherwise specified | 4 | 23 [10-91] |
| Vascular (10%) | ||
| Arteriovenous malformation | 1 | 72 |
| Benign intracranial hypertension | 1 | 10 |
| Epidural hematoma | 1 | 135 |
| Sinus thrombosis | 1 | 16 |
| Stroke | 52 | 58 [10-5650] |
| Subarachnoid hemorrhage | 36 | 198 [10-7090] |
| Subdural hemorrhage | 10 | 377 [10-9554] |
| Vascular dementia | 1 | 19 |
| Other (13%) | ||
| Anoxic brain injury | 4 | 36 [15-129] |
| Aplastic anemia | 1 | 12 |
| Concussion | 6 | 16 [14-46] |
| Alcohol use disorder | 3 | 29 [12-40] |
| Seizure | 28 | 32 [10-269] |
| Drug overdose | 3 | 24 [13-28] |
| Encephalopathy not otherwise specified | 2 | 72 [54-89] |
| Hepatic encephalopathy | 2 | 17 [16-18] |
| Hydrocephalus | 1 | 17 |
| Hypoglycemia | 2 | 12 [11-13] |
| Hyponatremia | 3 | 27 [12-31] |
| Epidural anesthesia | 2 | 258 [63-453] |
| Intravenous immune globulin | 1 | 182 |
| Metronidazole toxicity | 1 | 10 |
| Myelography | 1 | 239 |
| Ketoacidosis | 2 | 101 [13-189] |
| Neck trauma | 1 | 6460 |
| Polyneuropathy | 2 | 19 [10-35] |
| Prolapsed disc | 4 | 26 [12-113] |
| Spinal stenosis | 25 | 16 [10-74] |
| Traumatic hemorrhage | 6 | 81 [10-2610] |
| Unknown | 32 | 17 [10-4300] |
| Wernicke encephalopathy | 1 | 11 |
