You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT ARCHIVES
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 143 No. 9, September 1989 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Archives
  •  Online Features
  ARTICLE
 This Article
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in this journal

Corticosteroids as adjunctive therapy in bacterial meningitis. A meta-analysis of clinical trials

P. L. Havens, K. J. Wendelberger, G. M. Hoffman, M. B. Lee and M. J. Chusid
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

A meta-analysis of all nine available controlled trials of corticosteroids for adjunctive therapy for bacterial meningitis was performed. Risks of various outcomes were assessed for control and treatment groups from each study, and risk differences were determined. For each outcome a weighted average of the individual risk differences was calculated. The results show that corticosteroid administration did not reduce the risk of death or neurologic abnormality at hospital discharge or follow-up examination. Based on statistically combined results of the three most recent trials, there is evidence that dexamethasone reduces the risk of bilateral moderate or more severe hearing loss (risk difference, -9%; 95% confidence limits, -15% and -3%). However, this may be true only for children with meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b. There are inadequate data in adults or in children with meningitis due to other organisms to demonstrate the benefit of dexamethasone administration. Further study is necessary to fully assess the benefits and risks of corticosteroids for adjunctive therapy for bacterial meningitis.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Diagnosis and treatment of bacterial meningitis
El Bashir et al.
Arch. Dis. Child. 2003;88:615-620.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Management of Central Nervous System Infections
Zabinski et al.
Journal of Pharmacy Practice 1991;4:170-191.
 





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 1989 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.