We studied 271 children under age of 15 with diagnosis of acute bacterial meningencephalitis treated at Medical School in Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, between 1980 and 1990. The patients were divided in two groups: 1) those who had not received previous antibiotics treatment (NTP), with 153 cases; and 2), those who had received previous antibiotics treatment (PT), with 118 cases. The etiological agent was more frequently identified in NPT group, while ventriculitis was more frequent in PT group. Mortality rate accounted for 19,5% of all cases, and 29.7% of children under 12 months of age. Acute meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae was frequently followed by increased mortality. Convulsive disorders and hemiparesis predominante among children under 12 months of age. On the neurosurgical point of view, ventriculitis, subdural hygroma, hydrocephalus, subdural empyema and brain abscess were identified and treated.572 B465470Bohr, W., Paulson, O.B., Rasmussen, N., Pneumococcal meningitis: Late neurologic sequence and features of prognostic impact (1984) Arch Neurol, 41, pp. 1045-1049Moura-Ribeiro, M.V.L., Meningites purulentas em crianças no primeiro ano de vida: Evolução clínica e eletrencefalográfica (1978) Tese de Livre Docência, , Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Ribeirão PretoGomes, I., Melo, A., Lucena, R., Prognosis of bacterial meningitis in children (1996) Arq Neuropsiquiatr, 54, pp. 407-411Ferreira, A., Nascimento, M.H.C., Gomes, I., Melo, A., Neurologic complications in baterial meningitis (1995) J Neurol, (242 SUPPL.), pp. 105-115Klein, J.O., Freigin, R.D., McCraken, G.H., Report of the task force on diagnosis and management of meningitis (1986) Pediatrics, (78 SUPPL.), pp. 959-982Robson, R.O., Roberts, H., Acute bacterial meningitis: I: Diagnosis (1990) Develop Med Child Neurol, 32, pp. 79-86Spina-França, A., Líquido cefalorraquiano (1971) Propedêutica Neurológica: Temas Essencias. 2 Ed., pp. 443-465. , Tolosa APM, Canelas HM. São Paulo: SarvierPomeroy, S.L., Holmes, S.J., Dodge, P.R., Freigin, R.D., Seizures and other neurologic sequelae of bacterial meningitis in children (1990) N Engl J Med, 323, pp. 1651-1657Winkelstein, J.J́., The influence of partial treatment with penicillin on the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis (1970) J Pediatr, 77, pp. 619-624Snyder, R.D., Stovring, J., Cushing, A.H., Davis, L.E., Hardy, T.L., Cerebral infarction in childhood bacterial meningitis (1981) J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 44, pp. 581-585Moura-Ribeiro, M.V.L., Rocha, C.M., Fernandes, W.L.M., Guerreiro, M.M., Meningites bacterianas agudas: Complicações vasculares (1990) Arq Neuropsiquiatr, 51, pp. 507-510