Risk factors associated with death or neurological deterioration among patients with Gram-negative postneurosurgical meningitis.

In a retrospective cohort of 115 patients with Gram-negative postneurosurgical meningitis, factors associated with 30-day mortality or neurological deterioration on multivariate analysis included days from admission to meningitis (OR 1.05 per day, 95% CI 1.02-1.09), decreased level of consciousness (OR 2.69, 95% CI 0.99-7.31), blood glucose level >180 mg/dL (OR 3.70, 95% CI 1.27-10.77), higher creatinine level (OR 4.07 per 1 mg/dL, 95% CI 1.50-11.08), and cerebrospinal fluid glucose <50 mg/dL (OR 5.02, 95% CI 1.71-14.77) at diagnosis. A predictive score triaged patients into three groups with low (4/44, 9.1%), intermediate (16/38, 42.1%) and high (22/33, 66.7%) unfavourable outcome rates. Validation on a different group of 36 patients with Gram-negative postneurosurgical meningitis was acceptable.

Intrathecal or intraventricular therapy for post-neurosurgical Gram-negative meningitis: matched cohort study.

Gram-negative post-operative meningitis due to carbapenem-resistant bacteria (CR-GNPOM) is a dire complication of neurosurgical procedures. We performed a nested propensity-matched historical cohort study aimed at examining the possible benefit of intrathecal or intraventricular (IT/IV) antibiotic treatment for CR-GNPOM. We included consecutive adults with GNPOM in two centres between 2005 and 2014. Patients receiving combined systemic and IT/IV treatment were matched to patients receiving systemic treatment only. Matching was done based on the propensity of the patients to receive IT/IV treatment. We compared patient groups with 30-day mortality defined as the primary outcome. The cohort included 95 patients with GNPOM. Of them, 37 received IT/IV therapy in addition to systemic treatment (22 with colistin and 15 with amikacin), mostly as initial therapy, through indwelling cerebrospinal fluid drains. Variables associated with IT/IV therapy in the propensity score included no previous neurosurgery, time from admission to meningitis, presence of a urinary catheter and GNPOM caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Following propensity matching, 23 patients given IT/IV therapy and 27 controls were analysed. Mortality was significantly lower with IT/IV therapy: 2/23 (8.7%) versus 9/27 (33.3%), propensity-adjusted OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.04-0.99. Death or neurological deterioration at 30 days, 14-day and in-hospital mortality were lower with IT/IV therapy (OR <0.4 for all) without statistically significant differences. Among patients discharged alive, those receiving IT/IV therapy did not experience more neurological deterioration. Serious adverse events with IT/IV therapy were not documented. Our results support the early use of IT antibiotic treatment for CR-GNPOM when a delivery method is available.