Mandatory medical device diagnostics.
- Computed tomography of the skull (cranial CT, cranial CT or cCT); native (ie. without contrast medium), with bone window – for focus search (focal diagnosis); obligatory on admission day Note: In case of neurological deficit, decrease in vigilance or epileptic seizure, cranial computed tomography (cCT) is performed within 30 min after hospital admission to exclude cerebral edema (brain swelling)/hydrocephalus (“hydrocephalus”) before CSF diagnosis; otherwise, always immediate lumbar puncture before cCT.
Optional medical device diagnostics – depending on the results of the history, physical examination, laboratory diagnostics and obligatory medical device diagnostics – for differential diagnostic clarification or to exclude complications.
- Magnetic resonance imaging of the skull (cranial MRI, cranial MRI or cMRI).
- Magnetic resonance angiography (MRI) of the cerebral vessels (cMRI with contrast medium for vascular imaging).
- Transcranial Doppler sonography (ultrasound examination through the intact skull for orienting control of cerebral (“concerning the brain“) blood flow; brain ultrasound).
- Audiometry (hearing test), auditory evoked potentials and nystagmography (checking eye movements if nystagmus is suspected) can be used to rule out dysfunction following meningitis (meningitis)
