Chronic neutrophilic meningitis caused by Candida albicans.

Meningitis caused by Candida albicans is a very infrequent entity. We present 3 intravenous drug users with chronic neutrophilic meningitis caused by Candida albicans. The clinical, microbiological and radiological features of the 3 patients are reviewed. The interval between the onset of the disease and the diagnosis was long (from 4 to 12 months). Candida albicans was cultured from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the 3 patients. All of them developed hydrocephalus, meanwhile arachnoiditis was disclosed in two. The therapy with amphotericyn, 5-flucytosine and fluconazole produced clinical improvement and the sterilisation of the CSF in all the 3 cases. Clinicians should be aware of this entity because of diagnosis may be delayed in several months.