Comparison of the normal CSF values in premature neonates with term babies

Background:  Premature infants are at more risk for meningitis, and lumbar puncture is therefore a necessary part of the sepsis workup. The normal cerebrospinal fluid markers of premature infants have not been well established. This study was conducted to define the normal values of cerebrospinal fluid in these infants. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional research, we compared the CSF analysis of premature and term neonates admitted to Mahdieh and Mofid children's hospitals from 2014 to 2017. Results: Of 248 neonates, 44.4% were females and 55.6% were males. Fifty-five percent were term and 45% were preterm. The mean birth weight and gestational age of term and preterm babies were 3409 ± 65 and 1373 ±376 gram (P value<0.001) and 38.46 and 31.66 weeks respectively (P value<0.001). The mean age of preterm and term patients at the time of lumbar puncture was 25.96 and 9.66 days respectively (P value<0.001). Overall, analysis of the CSF, protein, glucose, WBC, PMN, and RBC revealed the normal values of 92.7%, 79.4%, 89.9%, 91.5%, and 35.5% respectively. By comparing CSF parameters of term and premature babies, it was exhibited that protein was the only CSF parameter that was significantly different between two given groups (10.23mg/dl vs. 71.47 mg/dl, P-value<0.001). The percentages of abnormal CSF parameters in the two groups was not significantly different. Conclusion: Our study revealed that the CSF markers of term and preterm neonates are similar; the exception was the protein level so that it was significantly high even in the preterm neonates without meningitis or intraventricular hemorrhage.