Hearing profile in children with bacterial meningitis treated with dexamethasone

Thirty children with proved bacterial meningitis were included in this prospective clinical study aiming at assessment of the role of dexamethasone therapy in reducing the incidence of hearing impairment as a complication of bacterial meningitis. The patients were divided into two equal groups, the first group received antibiotics alone while the second group received dexamethasone for 4 days beside the appropriate antibiotics. Hearing evaluation was done for all patients within 4-6 weeks after discharge. Hearing evaluation included basic audiologic evaluation namely pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry and tympanometry as well as brainstem audiometry some patients. Hearing evaluation revealed that dexamethasone reduces the incidence of hearing impairment particularly in children with meningitis due to hemophilus influenzae. The overall incidence of sensorineural hearing loss and conductive hearing loss in the first group was 6.7% and 23.3% respectively compared to an incidence of 24% and 43.4% respectively in the second group. Our study recommends the use of dexamethasone in all cases of bacterial meningitis to reduce the incidence of hearing loss

Latex agglutination test versus blood culture technique in diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

This study was done on 50 neonates diagnosed clinically and hematologically as suspetted sephis in to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of latex particle agglutination test [LPA] for rapid detection of bacterial antigen in sera in relation to blood culture technique. The most common hematological abnormality detected was the H.S.S. > 3.0 in 90% of cases. Microbiological results revealed that E. coli and Klebsiella were the most common organisms. E. coli accounted for [28%] of the cases, Klebsiella accounted for [24%] of cases and mixed infection by both organisms in [12%] of cases. The LPA test of E. coli gave positive reactions in 95% of patients with E. coli positive cultures while it gave positive reaction in 2 cases with negative blood cuItures and this elevate the sensitivity of the test up to 99%. The LPA tests of Streptococcus group B [SGB], Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis gave negative reactions

Idiopathic gastrointestinal perforation in premature twins

Three premature twins ranging in age from 2 to 4 days were managed for idiopathic gastrointestinal perforation from July 1989 till December 1990. all were boys, they were born prematurely and were treated in a neonatal intensive care unit when perforation were diagnosed. The sites of perforations were in each twin, and the occurrence of perforation in one usually preceded the other. 3 out of 6 died [50%] in the post operative period. This observation in twins should alert us to the possibility of occurrence of the perforation in the 2 nd when it occurs in the first