• Philip C Spinella, Aaron Donoghue, Anil Rajendra, Henry R Drott, Troy E Dominguez, and Mark Helfaer.
• Department of Anesthesiology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2004 Jan 1; 5 (1): 53-7.

ObjectiveTo describe normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of S-100beta in children and determine whether CSF S-100beta levels are elevated in pediatric meningitis.DesignCohort study.SettingChildren's teaching hospital.PatientsA total of 141 children (107 controls and 34 meningitis patients).MethodsCSF levels of S-100beta were measured in 107 control patients and 34 children with meningitis. S-100beta levels were measured in CSF collected from a lumbar puncture to evaluate for meningitis. Patients were classified as controls if they did not have pleocytosis or an organism identified. Patients were classified as having meningitis if there was CSF pleocytosis. Those with meningitis were then categorized as having bacterial or aseptic meningitis. S-100beta levels were measured by a commercial luminometric assay. Data are presented as median (interquartile range [IQ]) unless otherwise noted.Measurements And Main ResultsNormal CSF S-100beta levels were measured in 107 children with a median age of 2.6 months (1.4 months to 1.5 yrs). The median CSF S-100beta was 0.71 microg/L (IQ range, 0.48-1.07) with a tenth to 90th percentile range of 0.35-1.8 microg/L. A correlation was measured between age and CSF S-100beta levels in controls, (r2=.04, p=.037). Thirty-four children had meningitis with a median age of 4.0 yrs (2.0 months to 11.8 yrs). Ten were bacterial/mycobacterial, and 24 were aseptic. Children with meningitis had elevated S-100beta levels of 1.1 microg/L (IQ range, 0.9-1.6) compared with control levels of 0.71 microg/L (IQ range, 0.48-1.07) (p=.0001). Those with bacterial/mycobacterial meningitis had elevated S-100beta levels of 1.6 microg/L (IQ range, 0.78-3.0) compared with controls (p=.002). Children with aseptic meningitis also had S-100beta levels of 1.0 microg/L (IQ range, 0.91-1.4), which were elevated compared with controls, (p=.0003).ConclusionsCSF levels of S-100beta are elevated in children with meningitis compared with controls.

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