title: Characteristics of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) among children with ventriculoperitoneal shunt infections.
abstract: A common (5%) complication of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt systems is infection. CSF cytochemical findings have been used to choose the initial empirical antimicrobial treatment. The objective was to evaluate the results of cytochemical and microbiological analyses of CSF samples obtained from children with pyogenic ventriculitis associated to ventriculoperitoneal shunt systems. This was a retrospective, descriptive and analytical study. Thirty-two cases of pyogenic ventriculitis were included; Gram-positive bacteria were predominant in 26 cases (81.25%); the rest corresponded to Gram-negative bacteria. There were no statistically significant differences for the studied outcome variables (CSF cellularity, glucose and protein levels).
  
  
  
  Gram-positive bacteria were widely predominant as a cause of pyogenic ventriculitis associated to the surgical procedure. CSF characteristics show a high heterogeneity and were not associated to the type of microorganism in this studied sample.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Clínica Pediátrica en Cuidados Intermedios y Moderados, Hospital de Pediatría Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan.
authors.forename: Hernán
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rowensztein
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Clínica Pediátrica en Cuidados Intermedios y Moderados, Hospital de Pediatría Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan.
authors.forename: Lisandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Manfrin
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Clínica Pediátrica en Cuidados Intermedios y Moderados, Hospital de Pediatría Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan.
authors.forename: Marcela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paglia
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Clínica Pediátrica en Cuidados Intermedios y Moderados, Hospital de Pediatría Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan.
authors.forename: Tai Luong
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Epidemiología e Infectología, Hospital de Pediatría Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Silvina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruvinsky
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Clínica Pediátrica en Cuidados Intermedios y Moderados, Hospital de Pediatría Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scrigni
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000209:etiology*; D058565:Cerebral Ventriculitis / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017287:Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt / Q000009:adverse effects*