C - reactive protein of cerebrospinal fluid, as a sensitive approach for diagnosis of neonatal meningitis.

BACKGROUND: Meningitis, is a potentially life-threatening condition that can rapidly progress to permanent brain damage, neurologic problems, and even death. Bacteria and viruses cause the great majority of meningitis disease in infants and children. CRP is used mainly as a marker of inflammation. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to assess the diagnostic value of CSF-CRP levels for differentiating between septic (bacterial) and aseptic infantile meningitis. METHODS: 49 hospitalized infants aged less than two months with suspected meningitis were enrolled in a cross-sectional analytic study. All of patients underwent lumbar puncture to obtain CSF. smears, cultures, cytological and biochemical analysis and latex agglutination testing were carried out on all CSF samples. Latex agglutination test was carried out on all CSF samples using a commercially available kit. CSF-CRP level of all infants was measured using the immunoturbidometric technique. RESULTS: Of 49 infants in this study, 20 and 29 cases were diagnosed as septic and aseptic meningitis, respectively. The CRP levels were obtained as 0.95±0.68 mg/L in septic and 0.16±0.36 mg/L in aseptic meningitis groups and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.001) between the two groups (0.79±0.32 mg/L). Based on the ROC curve, cut off levels for CRP was obtained 0.17 mg/L. At this level, there was 95% sensitivity and 86% specificity to differentiate septic and aseptic meningitis. CONCLUSION: CSF-CRP has suitable diagnostic value in distinguishing between infantile bacterial from aseptic meningitis especially in cases of negative bacterial culture of the blood and spinal fluid.

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired fasting blood glucose in patients with Lichen Planus.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between Lichen Planus (LP) and diabetes was studied previously, but the results were in conflict. The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in patients with LP among Iranian patients. METHODS: In this study, 80 patients with LP were enrolled. They referred to dermatology clinic of our hospital during one year. A self-designed checklist for the study included duration of the disease, the pattern of the distribution of lichenoid lesions and fasting blood sugar (FBS). RESULTS: From 80 patients with LP, 16 (20%) had diabetes. Also, 14 patients (17.5%) had impaired fasting glucose. The mean age of diabetic patients was significantly higher than non-diabetic group (p=0.039). In addition, the duration of LP in patients with DM was significantly higher than non-diabetic patients (p=0.024). CONCLUSION: In our study, we saw a high prevalence of DM among patients with LP. Comparing our findings with the overall prevalence of DM in Iran, there was a significant difference between the prevalence of DM among patients with LP and the overall prevalence (p=0.001). Regarding our findings screening for FBS in patients with LP is required in Iran.