Bacterial meningitis in patients with multiple myeloma: a prospective nationwide cohort study and review of the literature.

OBJECTIVES

To study the clinical features of bacterial meningitis in patients with myeloma.

METHODS

We analyzed patients with myeloma who were included in a nationwide cohort of patients >16 years old with community-acquired bacterial meningitis in the Netherlands from 2006 to 2018. Subsequently, we reviewed the literature for articles reporting patients with myeloma with bacterial meningitis.

RESULTS

A total of 27 of 2306 episodes (1.6%) of bacterial meningitis occurred in patients with myeloma. Six of 27 patients (22%) underwent stem cell transplantation. Median cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leukocyte count was 172/µl, and 12 of 26 patients (46%) had a CSF leukocyte count <100/µl. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the causative pathogen in 25 patients (93%). Fourteen patients (52%) had unfavorable outcomes, of whom 10 (37%) died. Ninety-one patients with myeloma with bacterial meningitis were described in the literature. The most common pathogen in these patients was S. pneumoniae (35 of 48; 73%) and four (20%) of 20 patients died.

CONCLUSION

Bacterial meningitis in patients with multiple myeloma is a severe disease with high rates of unfavorable outcome. Patients often present with a lower CSF leukocyte count than patients with bacterial meningitis without multiple myeloma. Physicians should set a low threshold to perform lumbar puncture in patients with myeloma and start antibiotic treatment pending CSF chemistry and culture results.