title: Traumatic lumbar punctures in infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit.
abstract: Traumatic lumbar punctures occur frequently in the neonatal intensive care unit, making the interpretation of cerebrospinal fluid values difficult. We report correction factors for cerebrospinal fluid protein and white blood cells in the face of red blood cell contamination. These correction factors should facilitate the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in highrisk hospitalized infants.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Pediatrics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; †Division of Hospital Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH; and ‡Division of Newborn Care, Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Lakshmi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.forename: Samir S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Soraya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Padula
authors.forename: Mary C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis; D013129:Spinal Puncture / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins