Association of Cerebrospinal Fluid Leukocyte and Lactate Dehydrogenase Levels with Length of Hospital Stay in Pediatric Patients with Ventriculitis Receiving Intrathecal Antibiotic Therapy at Adam Malik Hospital, Medan, Indonesia, 2024–2025

Abstract

Pediatric ventriculitis is a serious central nervous system infection frequently associated with invasive neurosurgical procedures. Intraventricular inflammation leads to alterations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) parameters, including elevated leukocyte count and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels. However, the relationship between these biomarkers and length of hospital stay remains unclear. To analyze the association between CSF leukocyte and LDH levels with length of hospital stay in pediatric patients with ventriculitis receiving intrathecal antibiotic therapy. This study was an observational analytic study with a cross-sectional design involving pediatric patients diagnosed with ventriculitis. Bivariate analysis was performed using Spearman’s correlation test to assess the relationships between variables. The majority of subjects were infants (85%) with a median age of 3.5 months. All patients demonstrated elevated CSF LDH levels, while 45% had increased CSF leukocyte counts. The median length of hospital stay was 30 days. A strong positive correlation was found between CSF leukocyte and LDH levels (r = 0.720; p < 0.001). However, no significant association was observed between CSF leukocyte levels and length of hospital stay (r = 0.000; p = 0.999), nor between CSF LDH levels and length of hospital stay (r = 0.187; p = 0.430). CSF leukocyte and LDH levels are strongly correlated as indicators of intraventricular inflammation; however, neither parameter is significantly associated with length of hospital stay in pediatric ventriculitis patients.