EURECA is a prospective European multicentre observational study on acute meningoencephalitis in the intensive care unit.
Acute meningoencephalitis (AME) is a serious neurological disorder associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Almost 60% of patients with acute meningoencephalitis require admission to the intensive care unit due to coma, convulsions or acute respiratory failure. The determinants of the neurological prognosis of these patients are not known. Meningoencephalitis is an inflammation of the meninges, the origin of which is usually infectious. It results in a meningeal syndrome (headache, stiff neck, photo and phonophobia, vomiting) and an infectious syndrome with high fever. So, the purpose of this study is first to describe the epidemiology of patients with MEA who are treated in the intensive care unit, and to identify the factors of poor neurological prognosis.
EURECA is the first international multicenter prospective study on the epidemiology and prognosis of patients with severe acute encephalitis admitted to intensive care. It will help to better understand the epidemiological profile and the evolution of adverse events during a stay in the intensive care unit. The prognostic factors identified will help in the design of future studies to improve the neurological prognosis of this disease. This study will therefore allow the development of therapeutic diagnostic algorithms and standardize care for patients admitted to intensive care for acute encephalitis (AE), and perhaps even early administration of specific therapy.
