The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2012 , Vol 54 , Num 4
Brain magnetic resonance imaging findings suggestive of widespread white matter involvement in children with Streptococcus mitis meningitis
Departments of 1Pediatric Neurology and 2Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Gaziantep Children’s Hospital, and
3Radyotek Imaging Center, Gaziantep, Turkey. E-mail: ulyis@yahoo.com
Streptococcus mitis (S. mitis) is a rare cause of meningitis in immunocompetent
children. It has been described in patients with neurosurgical procedure,
previous spinal anesthesia and immunodeficiency. We report two childhood
cases of S. mitis meningitis. The children were previously healthy. One of the
patients had poor oral hygiene and the other had a history of sinusitis. Both
of them had encephalopathy and signs of meningeal irritation at presentation.
Widespread cerebral white matter lesions were found on brain magnetic
resonance imaging. The lesions disappeared and encephalopathy recovered
with antibiotic and immunomodulatory treatment.
Keywords :
Streptococcus mitis, meningitis, cerebral white matter.