[Diagnostic evaluation of meningeal syndrome in otogenic intracranial complications and infection].

In 258 patients, neurological symptoms of otogenic leptomeningitis and diagnostic importance of the meningeal symptom-complex in the clinical development of other intracranial complications and sepsis were investigated. Otogenic leptomeningitis was characterized by the meningeal syndrome, rigidity of occipital muscles combined with Brudzinski's sign and Kernig's sign, albumin-cytologic dissociation in the cerebrospinal fluid, and, frequently, unilateral lesion of cranial nerves. Meningeal symptoms in the case of cerebrum and cerebellum abscesses did not always indicate leptomeningitis. Kernig's sign and its combination with occipital muscle rigidity can be an indication of cerebrum abscesses. With leptomeningitis and cerebrum abscesses, the rigidity of occipital muscles rarely occurs as a separate symptom, which emphasizes its importance in the topical diagnosis of subtentorial abscesses.