KNUSTSpace >
Conference Proceedings >
College of Health Sciences >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/15679
|
Title: | Routine lumbar puncture in children with febrile seizures in Ghana: should it continue? |
Authors: | Agbenyega, Edward Tsiri Owusu-Ofori, Alex Ansong, Daniel Scheld, W. Michael |
Keywords: | Severe malaria; Simple malaria Bacterial meningitis; Cerebral malaria; Febrile convulsion; Lumbar puncture; |
Issue Date: | 2004 |
Publisher: | Elsevier Ltd |
Citation: | Elsevier Ltd, 2004 |
Abstract: | Objectives: Performing routine lumbar punctures in children with febrile seizures has
been controversial. This study aimed to determine the positive yield of lumbar
punctures in a setting where routine lumbar puncture is routinely carried out and
to determine if any other parameter could help differentiate bacterial meningitis
from the various other diagnoses of children who presented with a febrile seizure.
Design: A prospective study was carried out among children aged three months to 15
years of age, hospitalized at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana,
between July and August 2000.
Results: There was a 10.2% (n = 19) positive yield for bacterial meningitis with a
case fatality rate of 36.8% (n = 7). Cerebral malaria, which is not easily distinguishable
from bacterial meningitis, accounted for 16.1% (n = 30) of the children. Twenty
percent of bacterial meningitis patients had a positive blood smear for malaria. The
indication for doing a lumbar puncture was similar in both cerebral malaria and
bacterial meningitis patients. Signs of meningism were not the primary reason for
carrying out a lumbar puncture, even in the group of children who had bacterial
meningitis.
Conclusion: Performing routine lumbar punctures may still have a role to play in the
management of children with febrile seizures. |
Description: | This article is published at Elsevier Ltd, and also available at doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2003.12.008 |
URI: | doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2003.12.008 http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/15679 |
Appears in Collections: | College of Health Sciences
|
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
|