Urinary Retention Suggesting Aseptic Meningitis: Meningitis-Retention Syndrome Without Physical Signs of Meningeal Irritation

Meningitis-retention syndrome (MRS) is the combination of aseptic meningitis and acute urinary retention that occurs in the absence of other neurological diseases. The cause(s) of MRS remain unclear. A 57-year-old Japanese woman was referred to our hospital for the evaluation of persistent fever and headache. The fever’s cause was initially unclear, but the presence of urinary retention raised concern about possible aseptic meningitis despite no physical indications of meningeal irritation. Only typical cases of MRS have been reported thus far to our knowledge, and it is important that clinicians are aware of MRS when it presents in this atypical form.