Clinical presentation and prognostic factors of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis according to the focus of infection -: art. no. 93

Background: We conducted a nationwide study in Denmark to identify clinical features and prognostic factors in patients with Streptococcus pneumoniae according to the focus of infection. Methods: Based on a nationwide registration, clinical information's was prospectively collected from all reported cases of pneumococcal meningitis during a 2-year period ( 1999 - 2000). Clinical and laboratory findings at admission, clinical course and outcome of the disease including follow-up audiological examinations were collected retrospectively. The focus of infection was determined according to the clinical diagnosis made by the physicians and after review of the medical records. Results: 187 consecutive cases with S. pneumoniae meningitis were included in the study. The most common focus was ear (30%), followed by lung (18%), sinus (8%), and other (2%). In 42% of cases a primary infection focus could not be determined. On admission, fever and an altered mental status were the most frequent findings ( in 93% and 94% of cases, respectively), whereas back rigidity, headache and convulsion were found in 57%, 41% and 11% of cases, respectively. 21% of patients died during hospitalisation ( adults: 27% vs. children: 2%, Fisher Exact Test, P < 0.001), and the causes of death were due to neurological - and systemic complications or the combination of both in 8%, 5% and 6% of cases, respectively. Other causes ( e. g. gastrointestinal bleeding, incurable cancer) accounted for 2% of cases. 41% of survivors had neurological sequelae ( hearing loss: 24%, focal neurological deficits: 16%, and the combination of both: 1%). The mortality varied with the focus of the infection ( otogenic: 7%, sinusitic: 33%, pneumonic: 26%, other kind of focus: 50%, no primary infection focus: 21%, Log rank test: P = 0.0005). Prognostic factors associated with fatal outcome in univariate logistic regression analysis were advanced age, presence of an underlying disease, history of headache, presence of a lung focus, absence of an otogenic focus, having a CT-scan prior to lumbar puncture, convulsions, requirement of assisted ventilation, and alterations in various CSF parameters (WBC < 500 cells/mu L, high protein levels, glucose levels< 1 mmol/L, low CSF/blood glucose levels), P < 0.05. Independent prognostic factor associated with fatal outcome in multivariate logistic regression analysis was convulsions ( OR: 4.53, 95% CI: (1.74 - 11.8), p = 0.002), whereas presence of an otogenic focus was independently associated with a better survival ( OR: 6.09, 95% CI: ( 1.75 - 21.2), P = 0.005). Conclusion: These results emphasize the prognostic importance of an early recognition of a predisposing focus to pneumococcal meningitis.