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Am J Perinatol 2002; 19(2): 109-114
DOI: 10.1055/s-2002-23556
Copyright © 2002 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel.: +1(212) 584-4662

Reference Values for Lactic Dehydrogenase Activity and Isoenzyme Distribution in Cerebrospinal Fluid in Neonates with Fever but No Evidence of Cerebral Disease

Moshe Nussinovitch1 , Dario Prais1 , Benjamin Volovitz1 , Jacob Amir1 , Daniella Harel2 , Amos Nussinovitch3
  • 1Department of Pediatrics ``C'', Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Petach Tikvah, Israel
  • 2Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry, Rabin Medical Center, Beilnson Campus, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Petach Tikvah, Israel
  • 3Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Biochemistry Food-Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot, Israel
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Publication History

Publication Date:
02 April 2002 (online)

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ABSTRACT

Levels of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been used to evaluate a variety of neurologic disorders. However, few studies have been performed on neonates. CSF samples were collected from 39 neonates, 19 aged 1-4 weeks and 20 aged 5-8 weeks with neonatal fever. Findings were compared to those in 15 infants mean age 10 ± 6.4 months with suspected nervous system disease and normal CSF findings. Mean total LDH activity in the CSF was significantly higher in the first month of life than in the second month of life and compared with the control group (p <0.001). The LDH isoenzyme pattern was also different, with lower values of LDH-1 than LDH-2 and -3 in the study groups. Differences were significant among all three groups for LDH-1 (p <0.001) and between the whole study group and the controls for LDH-2 and -3 (p <0.001). We propose reference values for total LDH activity and LDH isoenzyme distribution in the CSF of normal neonates.

KEYWORD

Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) - cerebrospinal fluid - neonate

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