Predictive value of the ocular globe compression in meningeal syndromes

Abstract

Meningeal syndromes are evaluated in clinical practice by classic semiological signs all of them showing important sensibility and specificity but with some limitations. Thus, we propose a clinical method in order to diagnose meningeal syndromes capable of being easily executed and without risks for patients: to evaluate the pain by ocular globe compression as a semiological sign in meningeal syndromes. We studied 160 patients both gender, assorted age, distributed into two groups of patients, group I with meningeal syndrome and group II without meningeal syndrome. Results: in group I (n=80), at least one of the classic signal in meningeal syndrome was present in 71 patients (88.75%), while pain by ocular globe compression was positive in 78 patients (98.7%) with meningeal syndrome. In group I, this sign reached important sensibility (97.5%), specificity (98.8%) in meningeal syndromes. In conclusion, pain by ocular globe compression seems to be an important semiological sign and would be better investigated.