Purulent meningitis in children in Yaounde (Cameroon) . Survey of complications using echoencephalography
Gonsu Fotsin, J.; Kago, I.; Dzogang, M.T.; Kamga, H.G.; Koki, P.; Dombeu, A.; Camara, M.
Annales de Pediatrie 38(2): 110-114
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0066-2097 PMID: 2029122 Document Number: 380723
Sixty-one infants aged 0 to 12 months with documented purulent meningitis underwent transfontanellar ultrasonography at the Yaounde Central Hospital. Twenty-eight (45.90%) infants had evidence of complications including communicating hydrocephalus (20 patients; 71.43%), ventriculitis (5; 17.86%), abscess with ventriculitis (2; 7.14%), and cerebral atrophy (1; 3.57%). An analysis of the main epidemiological, bacteriological and clinical parameters found no correlation between the presence of ultrasound evidence of complications and age, sex, or color of the CSF. Conversely, a close correlation was found with both the time elapsed between onset and initiation of treatment and the severity of clinical manifestations (coma, seizures). The authors, recommend routine ultrasound encephalography in infants with meningitis, improved information of parents, and close collaboration between pediatric radiologists and neurosurgeons.