Miliary pattern in neonatal pneumonia.
We have seen 10 newborn babies who developed respiratory distress and whose chest radiographs showed a miliary nodular pattern of disease. Of these infants only 3 had blood cultures that were positive for staphylococcus aureus. Of the remaining 7, 2 had conjunctivitis from which Staphylococcus aureus was cultured, 4 had negative cultures and 1 did not have a blood culture done. All patients were diagnosed as having bacterial pneumonia and appeared to respond favourably to antibiotic therapy. The pulmonary abnormalities resolved. The children were clinically well in less than 3 weeks. The author suggests that the miliary pattern is one of the radiological patterns of neonatal pneumonia possibly produced by hematogenous bacterial dissemination.