The Green Cerebrospinal Fluid

Escota, Como, and Kessler examine a diagnostic presentation depicting a sample of cerebrospinal fluid from a 52 year old woman. The patient reported a 1 week history of worsening headache, shortness of breath, and fatigue, but denied any fever and other symptoms. Upon assessment, a chest radiograph showed a left sided pleural effusion, with a cerebrospinal fluid sample color, which was consistently green. Thus, the patient was diagnosed with Pseudomonas acruginosa ventriculitis, a kind of bacteria that is known to produce a green pigment in vitro.