Management
Our patients received corticosteroids (dexamethasone with a daily dose at 0.15 mg/kg every 6 hours during 5 consecutive days). Mannitol was administrated if neuroimaging tests showed cerebral edema and/or herniation. The dose given was 1.5 g/kg/d with a progressive decrease for a predicted duration of 5 days. Hypertonic saline is not used in our practice. Anticonvulsants (phenobarbital) were used only if seizure was diagnosed either clinically or according to electrophysiological tests. All our patients received cefotaxime (300 mg/kg/d) and acyclovir (15 mg/kg every 8 hours) since their admission until obtaining the definitive results of cerebrospinal fluid sample tests. Intubation and mechanical ventilation were performed in cases with severe consciousness impairment (Glasgow Coma Scale score