Cerebrospinal latex agglutination fails to contribute to the microbiologic diagnosis of pretreated children with meningitis.
We conducted a 10-year retrospective study of all children who had cerebrospinal fluid latex agglutination testing for bacterial antigens performed at 1 tertiary care urban children's hospital. Of the 176 patients with culture-negative meningitis who were pretreated with antibiotics before lumbar puncture, none had a positive latex agglutination study (0 of 176; 95% confidence interval, 0-2%). Latex agglutination studies identified no additional cases of bacterial meningitis beyond those identified by culture in pretreated patients. Clinical decision-making algorithms for the management of pretreated patients at risk for bacterial meningitis should not include latex agglutination testing.
Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Lise E
LE
Nigrovic
Nathan
N
Kuppermann
Alexander J
AJ
McAdam
Richard
R
Malley
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003657:Decision Making; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors