Cerebral edema and resulting elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) is a well-known complication of acute pyogenic meningitis.1 ,2 A diagnostic lumbar puncture (LP) may then precipitate herniation or coning of the brain, often with fatal outcome.3–8 A computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain is therefore recommended before LP whenever raised ICP is suspected, particularly if the possibility of a mass or space-occupying lesion exists.9–11 We describe a 15-year-old adolescent with bacterial meningitis with a normal CT scan who developed signs of herniation immediately after a subsequent LP. To the best of our knowledge this is the second documented report of herniation found at postmortem examination in a child with a normal CT scan.
A previously healthy 12-year-old white boy presented to a community hospital emergency department with a 1-hour history of single generalized tonic-clonic seizure and a 2-day complaint of fever, headache, vomiting, and increasing somnolence. He...
