The correlation between MRI findings and clinical prognosis in children with purulent meningitis

Abstract

Background: To explore the correlation between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and clinical prognosis in children with purulent meningitis. Methods : Forty-nine cases of children with purulent meningitiswere collected from January 2016 to December 2018 in Beijing Children's Hospital. According to the Glasgow Outcome Scale（GOS), there were 35 patients with good prognosis and 14 patients with poor prognosis. All patients were scanned by MRI. We used Chi-square test and Logistic regression to analyse the correlation between MRI features and clinical prognosis in children with purulent meningitis. Results : Among the two groups, the poor prognosis group had the worst imaging performance, while the good prognosis group had the lighter imaging performance. Chi-square test showed that the imaging signs of cerebral edema, cerebral hemorrhage, subdural effusion, hydrocephalus, venous sinus thrombosis, cerebral hernia had statistical significance between the two groups (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the signs of cerebral edema, subdural effusion were risk factor for poor prognosis (P < 0.001). Conclusion : There are many complications and sequelae in children with purulent meningitis. The MRI findings of cerebral edema, cerebral hemorrhage, subdural effusion, hydrocephalus, venous sinus thrombosis, cerebral hernia suggest poor prognosis. It is instructive to clinical treatment and prognosis.