Turini et al identified prognostic factors for patients presenting with meningococcal meningitis. These can help to identify a patient who may benefit from more aggressive management. The authors are from Universidade Estadual de Londrina in Brazil.
Patient selection: meningococcal meningitis
Outcome: mortality
Parameters:
(1) age in years
(2) duration of symptoms in hours prior to admission
(3) coma on admission
(4) shock on admission
(5) white blood cell count per microliter
Parameter
Finding
Points
age of the patient
< 1 year
1
1 to 40 years
0
> 40 years
1
duration of symptoms
< 48 hours
1
>= 48 hours
0
coma
absent
0
present
1
shock
absent
0
present
1
white blood cell count
<= 10,000 per µL
1
> 10,000 per µL
0
total number of risk factors =
= SUM(points for all 5 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 5
• The higher the score the greater the risk of death.
Total Score
Mortality Rate
0 or 1
2%
2
24%
3
50%
4 or 5
100%
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