Intrathecal amphotericin in the management of coccidioidal meningitis.

Coccidioidal meningitis is lethal in the absence of treatment. The advent of the azoles has not led to cure, causing many clinicians to revert to intra-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amphotericin as part of the treatment regimen, desiring the influence of the latter regimen's ability to clear infection more completely and rapidly. Intra-CSF amphotericin therapy is, however, far more toxic than oral azoles and requires much more clinical management to achieve success and avoid toxicity. This management task increasingly, for insurance reasons or geographic reasons, falls on clinicians unfamiliar with the disease. We delineate our experience in the medical and surgical management of this form of therapy, including procedural details that we have found useful, for the benefit of our colleagues who may wish to use them. As ours is a teaching institution, we have found this material also useful for physicians in training, who are learning about the treatment of these patients. Copyright 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company