Electrolytic Status in Meningitis of Children in Chittagong Region: A Clinical Survey

Aims: Electrolyte of different body fluid is one kind of important parameter to determine the severity of meningitis. Therefore we aimed to investigate electrolytic status in different types of meningitis together with detailed medical history in children. We wanted to make a comparison of CSF electrolytes between pyogenic and tubercular meningitis in male and female patients.
Place and Duration of the Study: The study was conducted in the Biochemistry, Microbiology laboratory of ChattagramMaa-O-Shishu General Hospital, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Methodology: A total of 100 subjects were investigated in this study. CSF obtained from the selected patient by the process of lumbar puncture done in the hospital ward by the doctor by maintaining sterility and aseptic condition from the pathology laboratory for electrolytes estimation.
Results: We observed that the Na+ level was increased (>145 mmol/L), Cl- level was increased (>107 mmol/L), K+ level was increased (>5.1 mmol/L) and HCO3- level was increased up to (>28 mmol/L) in 16%, 21%, 26% and 7% patients respectively. Furthermore, lymphocytes and neutrophils were also detected in the CSF and blood of the patients. Interestingly, in pyogenic meningitis, the neutrophil count was very high compared to that in viral meningitis. In both cases the correlation of Na+, Cl-, K+ and HCO3- were tested among patients.
Conclusion: Our survey and experimental observations reveals that the abnormality is not due to a combined deficiency of sodium, chloride, and potassium. Biochemical parameter such as electrolytes level in CSF might be a potential tool for determining pH, acid-base balance, and hormone secretion.