aseptic meningitis in children analysis of 506 cases无菌性脑膜炎的儿童506例分析.pdfVIP

Aseptic Meningitis in Children: Analysis of 506 Cases 1 1 2 3 1 1 Athanasios G. Michos , Vassiliki P. Syriopoulou *, Christos Hadjichristodoulou , George L. Daikos , Evagelia Lagona , Panagiotis Douridas , Glykeria Mostrou1, Maria Theodoridou1 1 First Department of Pediatrics, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, Athens University, Athens, Greece, 2 Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece, 3 First Department of Propaedeutic Medicine, Laiko General Hospital, Athens University, Athens, Greece Background. Non-polio human enteroviruses are the leading cause of aseptic meningitis in children. The role of enterovirus PCR for diagnosis and management of aseptic meningitis has not been fully explored. Methodology/Principal Findings. A retrospective study was conducted to determine the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of aseptic meningitis and to evaluate the role of enterovirus PCR for the diagnosis and management of this clinical entity. The medical records of children who had as discharge diagnosis aseptic or viral meningitis were reviewed. A total of 506 children, median age 5 years, were identified. The annual incidence rate was estimated to be 17/100,000 children less than 14 years of age. Most of the cases occurred during summer (38%) and autumn (24%). The dominant clinical symptoms were fever (98%), headache (94%) and vomiting (67%). Neck stiffness was noted in 60%, and irritation in 46% of the patients. The median number of CSF cell count was 201/mm3 with polymorphonuclear predominance (.50%) in 58.3% of the cases. Enterovirus RNA was detected in CSF in 47 of 96 (48.9%) children tested. Children with positive enterovirus PCR had shorter hospitalization stay as c