• M Skarmeta and P Herrera.
• Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Pediatría Norte, Hospital Roberto del Río, Santiago de Chile.
• Rev Med Chil. 1998 Nov 1;126(11):1323-9.

BackgroundThe prognosis of acute bacterial meningitis continues to be poor in our country. Previous studies suggest that the delay in diagnosis has an important prognostic value.AimTo study the influence of diagnosis timing and the clinical conditions of children with acute bacterial meningitis on admission on death and incidence of gross sequelae.Patients And MethodsCharts of children deceased or discharged with gross sequelae as consequence of an acute bacterial meningitis were selected. To each of these cases, 4 children with the same diagnosis but discharged in good conditions were selected as controls. Variables recorded were time and number of visits previous to the diagnosis, etiology of meningitis, neurological, respiratory, digestive and hemodynamic involvement on admission.ResultsFifty seven cases and 224 controls were studied. Most cases were 12 months old or less (OR 4.1, 95% CI = 1.97-8.7). Diagnosis made on the first visit or within the first 24 hours of disease, improved prognosis (OR 0.25, 95% CI = 0.07-0.78). An age of less than 12 months and a diagnosis made after more than 12 hours of disease or after more than one consultation interacted multiplying their effect on a dismal prognosis. Coma on admission (OR 7.95% CI = 3-14.3) and S Pneumoniae etiology (OR 7, CI 95% = 3.4, 14.3) were also associated with a bad prognosis.ConclusionsEarly diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis is protective for death or gross sequelae at discharge. Age, coma and S Pneumoniae etiology are the main factors associated with a poor prognosis.

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