There are lot of literature revealing a high incidence of seizures when imipenem/cilastin is used among patients with meningitis.

We frequently use imipenem in our neonates with gram negative septicemia, so long as the culture and sensitivity report shows the organism to be sensitive to imipenem. Often the neonate is too critical for a lumbar puncture. Most probably many of our neonates with septicemia may also have had CNS involvement . However we have so far not noticed nay seizure activity in any of our neonates receiving imipenem.

What does this mean?

One, possibility is that all the neonates who got imipenem never had meningitis...Possible!

The other possibility is that seizures in neonates with meningitis receiving imipenem is a rare side effect.

Anyone else out there has any such experience?

I found a nice article

http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/inside.asp?AID=1363&UID=

If you go down in the article where they discuss imipenem, you will see that they had a good experience with neonates.