[Prediction of progression of suppurative meningitis based on clinical characteristics and cerebrospinal fluid findings at the onset of the disease].

Some factors (sex, age, the way of onset, previous antibiotic therapy, instant of hospitalization in relation to the appearance of initial symptoms) associated with the course of suppurative meningitis prior to the hospitalization have been analyzed and a trial has been made to locate them in the prognosis of the disease progression. At the Clinic of Infective Diseases in Novi Sad during 10 years (1977 to 1987, except 1983) 162 patients with a diagnosed purulent meningitis had been treated. The patients were classified into two groups: a group of 62 patients with complications and a group of 100 patients with an expected progression of the disease. Statistical data were analyzed using the x2 test and t test. In the period considered in this investigation the sickness passed with complications in 38.24% cases, 32.10% of them being of neurological nature, while 6.14% of complications appeared in other organs and systems. The statistical analysis shows that sex, age, the way of onset (data from history of the disease), previous antibiotic therapy, time of hospitalization in relation to appearance of initial symptoms, can not be used as reliable parameters in predicting the further course of suppurative meningitis. Complications have been registered in patients having more than 2.16g/l proteins and less than 1.12mmol/l sugar in the liquor at the beginning of the disease. These values can be used as a reference for predicting the further course of the disease.