[Suppurated pneumococcal meningitis in infants and children: complications and prognostic factors].

This paper investigates 21 patients (16 infants and 5 children) with Pneumococcal meningitis, 15 of which presented with a severe form. Intracranial pressure (IP) monitoring was performed in 7 patients who all had severe (4) or mild (3) intracranial hypertension (IH). Twelve children had a favourable outcome, 7 had sequelae (3 severe) and 2 died from coning, one before monitoring, the second after exhibiting the highest IP and the lowest cerebral perfusion pressure of the series. The 3 children with severe sequelae had a severe form (2) or a mild but prolonged form (1) of IH. The 4 patients who recovered with moderate sequelae presented severe (1), mild IH (1) or were not monitored (2). There were 14 cases with neurological complications. In 8 patients, this seemed to be related to cerebral oedema and IH; coning caused the death of 2 of them; the 6 others exhibited lesions of cerebral oedema on CT-scan, isolated or associated with cerebral infarction or subdural effusion. In the 6 others patients, IP monitoring was not performed; there was no evidence of cerebral oedema on CT-scan; 2 exhibited cerebral infarction and 3 a moderate ventricular dilatation; 2 had hemodynamic problems from acute pneumococcemia in one case and neurovegetative disturbances associated with cerebral infarction in the second. Pneumococcus meningitis remains a severe disease. The prognosis of severe forms can be improved by IP monitoring since IH seems to be the most frequent mechanism of complication.