Evaluation of the ocular globe compression sign in infectious meningeal syndromes

Abstract

Infectious meningeal syndromes represent a serious medical emergency whose clinical-epidemiologic diagnosis must be immediately established for early initiation of appropriate treatment. However, in many cases data from the clinical exam are insufficient to confirm or rule out the diagnosis. Therefore, the aim of this work was to assess the value of the ocular globe compression sign in 57 patients with suspicion of infectious meningeal syndrome, both male and female and aged four years or older. The sensitivity (34.5%), specificity (78.6%) and positive (62.5%) and negative (53.7%) predictive values of ocular globe compression sign were similar to nuchal rigidity, and the agreement between two independent observers was fair (Kappa=0.65). Ocular globe compression sign in conjunction with other findings of the clinical examination could be of great value in the diagnostic process of patients with infectious meningeal syndromes.