Intracranial Serratia infection in preterm newborn infants.

Four cases of cerebral Serratia infection in preterm infants were diagnosed with the aid of real-time sector sonography. Three cases had brain abscesses and one case had ventriculitis. In two cases brain abscesses had ruptured into the ventricles. Serratia brain abscess was common in our series of brain abscesses. Sonographic patterns of cerebritis, abscess formation, and ventriculitis correlated well with computed tomographic scans. Bedside cerebral sonography proved to be useful for the diagnosis, location, and follow-up of intracranial Serratia infection.