The role of corticosteroids in the treatment of eosinophilic meningitis has not been definitely established. Patients given a 2-week course of prednisolone (treatment group), 60 mg/day, were compared with those given placebo (control group) in a randomized, double-blind trial. Fifty-five patients were enrolled in each group. There were significant differences between the treatment and control groups, with regard to the number of patients who still had headache after 14 days (5 vs. 25, respectively; P=.00004), the median length of time until complete disappearance of headache (5 vs. 13 days, respectively; P=.00000), and the number of patients who had repeat lumbar puncture (7 vs. 22, respectively; P=.002). Serious side effects were not detected. These results indicate that a 2-week course of prednisolone was beneficial in relieving headache in patients with eosinophilic meningitis.

Corticosteroid and the combination of corticosteroid and antihelminthic drug are safe and beneficial in relieving headaches in patients with eosinophilic meningitis. However, clinical trials comparing the efficacies of these regimens have never been reported. We conducted a prospective, open, randomized, controlled study to compare the efficacy of the combination of prednisolone plus albendazole and prednisolone alone for the treatment of eosinophilic meningitis. Our study had 53 patients in the combined treatment group and 51 patients in the prednisolone alone group. There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to the number of patients who still had headaches after 14 days (0 versus 1, respectively; P = 0.49) and the median length of time until complete disappearance of headache (3 versus 3 days, respectively; P = 0.32. Prednisolone plus albendazole is no better than prednisolone alone for treatment of patients with eosinophilic meningitis.

The admission rate for SCNTD in Thailand was 141 per 100,000 admissions among which SLE was the most common. Overall hospital mortality was 4.1%. Although a lower prevalence was found among systemic vasculitis, it had a higher mortality rate, longer length of stay and greater therapeutic cost.

The prevalence of hospitalized PA is still modest in Thailand, showing the highest prevalence in the advanced age group. Diabetes was the most commonly co-morbidity found; however, poorer outcomes were noted among patients with chronic liver disease and existing multiple sites of infections.