RESUMO
Objective:To investigate clinical features and prognosis of purulent meningitis in premature infants versus full-term infants and to better understand purulent meningitis and improve the diagnosis and treatment of purulent meningitis in infants. Methods:The clinical data of 54 infants with purulent meningitis who received treatment in Shanxi Children's Hospital, China between January 2017 and December 2019 were included in this study. The included infants were divided into preterm group (gestational age < 37 weeks, n = 11) and full-term group (gestational age 37-42 weeks, n = 43) according to different gestational ages. Clinical features and cerebrospinal fluid biochemical indexes (white blood cell count, protein concentration, glucose level) as well as total effective rate were compared between the preterm and full-term groups. Results:The main clinical features of neonatal purulent meningitis were fever, bradykinesia, low amount of milk intake, convulsion, lethargy, irritability, increased intracranial pressure, hypotonia or hypertonia. Hypotonia was the prominent manifestation in the preterm group, while fever, convulsion and bradykinesia were the prominent manifestations in the full-term group. White blood cell count and cerebrospinal fluid glucose level in the preterm group were significantly higher than those in the full-term group ( t = 2.215, 2.023, both P < 0.05), but cerebrospinal fluid protein level in the preterm group was significantly higher than that in the full-term group ( t = 2.437, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in total effective rate between preterm and full-term groups [90.91% (10/11) vs. 90.70% (39/43), χ2 = 0.001, P > 0.05]. Conclusion:The clinical features of neonatal purulent meningitis are not specific, and the clinical features of premature infants with purulent meningitis are not typical. It is necessary to carefully observe the clinical manifestations of premature infants with purulent meningitis and detect the biochemical indexes of cerebrospinal fluid to strive for early diagnosis and treatment.