Intrathecal antibiotic therapy for neonatal meningitis.

Twenty infants with neonatal meningitis were treated with systemic and lumbar intrathecal antibiotics upon initial diagnosis. Failure to sterilize the CSF in 2-3 days was associated with evidence of ventriculitis in these infants who were then treated with intraventricular antibiotics. 4 infants died, but only 2 of them may be regarded as treatment failure. It is suggested that many deaths from neonatal meningitis may be preventable by early detection and treatment of ventriculitis with intraventricular antibiotics.