title: Magnetic resonance imaging and dexamethasone therapy for bacterial meningitis.
abstract: We conducted a third placebo-controlled, double-blind study of dexamethasone as adjunctive therapy for bacterial meningitis. Thirty-one patients received cefuroxime sodium (300 mg/kg per day in 3 doses) and dexamethasone phosphate (0.6 mg/kg per day in 4 doses for 4 days), and 29 received cefuroxime and placebo. The groups were comparable at the beginning of therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging performed between days 2 and 5 of therapy was used to assess brain water content indirectly. There were no differences between the 2 treatment groups with respect to the T1- or T2-weighted images. Fifty-two patients (88%) had normal magnetic resonance images; 5 patients had parietal or bifrontal extra-axial fluid collections, and 2 children had areas of abnormal signal intensity in the brain on T2-weighted images. Abnormal findings on magnetic resonance imaging did not alter clinical management, and there was no correlation between the results of magnetic resonance imaging and the outcome of meningitis. The number of patients in this study was too small to determine any statistically significant differences in rates of hearing impairment; however, the cerebrospinal fluid findings and clinical outcome in dexamethasone-treated patients further support the previously reported beneficial effect of corticosteroid treatment in patients with bacterial meningitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Southwestern Medical School, Dallas.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lebel
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hoyt
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Waagner
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Rollins
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Finitzo
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: McCracken
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001834:Body Water / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002444:Cefuroxime / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011897:Random Allocation
chemical_list: D003907:Dexamethasone; D002444:Cefuroxime