Mumsnet Talk

My son has meningitis when he was 5 weeks old and i am trying to establish which would have been the cause to his brain damage the meningitis or the seizure.
Day 1 PICU suspected meningitis treatment given CT scan performed brain fine no problems
Day 2 Treatment for meningitis continued in PICU
Day 3 another CT scan again fine come of ventilator
Day 4 moved to the ward then my son started having one sided seizures i ran to get help as i did not know what it was at that time? the doc came to check on him and the body movements had stopped my son looked asleep then over the next 20 mins my son contiued to stop and start these one sided body movements. each time i called the doc in each time movements stopped before he seen them. So i told the doc he was not allowed to leave the room till he seen. and he did? He called for more help and my son then went into a continuous seizure for 20 min. After this he was taken for another CT scan which showed extensive brain damage to the frontal lobe.
2 years later he had another status epilepticus which lasted 45 mins again but no scans where performed to check his brain function

status epilepticus can def cause brain damage as it blocks oxygen getting to it. 45 mins seems quite a long time, as when my DD was having seizures I was told given all info on ensuring they didnt last longer than 5 mins, as this would be status epilepticus which can be quite serious if not controlled quickly enough

Perhaps they decided not to CT scan him unless there were signs of further damamge, perhaps they deemed it a pointless exercise and waste of resources if he seemed fine. I guess the concern is what caused it 2 yrs on.

Hello there, I'm very sorry to hear about your son. It sounds like the seizures were caused by meningitis. I would recommend calling 080 88 00 33 44, Meningitis Research Foundation's freefone helpline. I know they will be able to answer your questions in more detail. Good luck, P

thanks for your advice