Observational studyBMC pediatrics2022
Interpretation of white blood cell counts in the cerebrospinal fluid of neonates with traumatic lumbar puncture: a retrospective cohort study.
Observational study in BMC pediatrics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Suspected encephalitis in adults.Practical neurology · 2026Review
- A nomogram to predict probable meningitis in very preterm and/or very low birth weight infants with early-onset sepsis: a multicenter retrospective study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Determinants of Prolonged Antibiotic Administration in Culture-Negative Evaluations of Early-Onset Neonatal Meningitis: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Do Spinal Needle Sizes Affect the Development of Traumatic CSF in Neonatal LP Procedures?Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDifficulty in interpreting white blood cell (WBC) counts in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) complicates the diagnosis of neonatal meningitis in traumatic lumbar punctures (LP). The aim of our study was to determine the correction factor for WBC counts in traumatic LP that offers the greatest diagnostic efficacy in meningitis.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective observational study of LP in neonates between January 2014 and December 2020. Traumatic LP was defined as a red blood cell (RBC) count ≥ 1,000 cells/mm
resultsOverall, 41.0% of the 1,053 LPs included in the study were traumatic. The best results for effective WBC correction were the method based on the peripheral blood ratio (sensitivity = 1.0 and specificity = 0.9 for bacterial meningitis and sensitivity = 0.8 and specificity = 0.9 for viral meningitis) and the 400:1 ratio (sensitivity = 1.0 and specificity = 0.8 for bacterial meningitis and sensitivity = 0.8 and specificity = 0.8 for viral meningitis) obtained from linear regression (95% CI 381.7-427.4; R2 = 0.7).
conclusionBoth the peripheral blood correction and the 400:1 correction reduce the number of neonates classified with pleocytosis who were not eventually diagnosed with meningitis. Both methods might be a useful tool to clarify the neonatal meningitis diagnosis, offering neonatologists the possibility to assess the WBC count in traumatic LP.
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