Background: Acknowledgment of Neurological disorders in which irritation plays a key part have been expanded in children. Guidelines about diagnostic testing for pediatric patients with these suspected disorders are missing till presently.
Aim of the work: Our study aims to evaluate the diagnostic test accuracy of CSF neopterin in relation to standard chemical CSF biomarkers as total proteins and leucocytes in suspected pediatric patients with CNS inflammatory disorders.
Patients and Methods: Forty-eight pediatric patients without CNS diseases (group I) and 32 patients with CNS diseases (group II) were included. They were presented with disturbed conscious level, and / or fever and / or signs of acute neurological syndrome to the emergency room (ER) of Pediatrics Department of Ain Shams University hospitals. CSF chemical analysis, bacterial cultures, viral panel by PCR and CSF neopterin by ELISA were done in all patients.
Results: CSF neopterin levels showed high significance in patients with CNS diseases compared to those without CNS diseases and showed a significant positive correlation with CSF WBCs, protein and LDH. Logistic regression analysis revealed that CSF neopterin was the only independent parameter that proved to be a significant predictor for discrimination between the two studied patient groups.
Conclusion: CSF neopterin can be useful as a biomarker to differentiate between inflammatory CNS diseases and non-CNS diseases.