European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Objective- To describe the association of Systolic Blood Pressure with outcomes in children with acute non traumatic neurological illnesses. Materials and Methods- the present prospective observational Study conducted in the PICU, Department of Pediatrics of central India over the period of 1 year 6 months, All patients admitted with acute non traumatic neurological illnesses. Children between the age group of 1-14 years of age, admitted with the provisional diagnosis of acute neurological illnesses -acute encephalitis syndrome, pediatric stroke, meningitis, hepatic encephalopathy and seizure were included while all cases of acute traumatic neurological illnesses and/or Patients with chronic illnesses of any system were excluded. Results- the study was conducted among 249 subjects, out of which 57.4% (n=143) belonged to the age group of 1-5 years, 30.9% (n=77) subjects were of 5-10 years, 11.6% (n=29) subjects were of more than 10 years of age. Out of which males 63.1% (n=157) were male and 36.9% (n=92) subjects were female. Among all subjects 50.6 % (n=126) had primary diagnosis of seizure disorder, 41.4% (103) had acute encephalitis syndrome, 5.2% (n=13) had bacterial meningitis. which death rate was reported in 11.2% . In present study systolic blood pressure was found to be a significant predictor of mortality across the time points. Across the time points death was more common in those with systolic blood pressure. Conclusion- Children with acute non-traumatic neurological illnesses have higher systolic blood pressure in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), which increases mortality and hospital stays. The relationship between systolic blood pressure and acute non-traumatic neurological illness in children needs further multi-institutional research. Timely and proactive blood pressure treatment improves mortality and hospitalization rates.