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Background: Due to improved diagnostic methods, the incidence of brain abscess is still rising. Therefore, clear and evidence-based therapy for the patients who suffer from brain abscesses is necessary. Brain abscesses are potentially life-threatening conditions that possibly lead to permanent injuries even after sufficient healing has taken place. The aims of this study were to analyze the clinical aspects of patients with brain abscesses and thereby to reveal the relevant aspects for the future treatment of the brain lesions., Methods: We retrospectively identified 47 patients (24 male, 23 female) who had received surgery or undergone the frameless stereotactic drainage of brain abscesses in our center from March 2009 to May 2017. We analyzed the clinical characteristics of the patients, as well as comorbidities and outcomes., Results: The mean age was 58 (range 7 to 86). Focus identification was successful in 28 patients (60%), with the most frequent causes of brain abscesses including the following: sinusitis (25%), dental infections (25%), and mastoiditis (21%). The mean Charlson Comorbidity Index was 1.57. Among the patients, 34% showed immunosuppressive conditions. We performed 1.5 surgeries per patient (53% via craniotomy, 28% biopsies or stereotactic drainage, 19% both procedures), followed by antibiotic treatment for 6.5 weeks (mean). In 30% of patients, no bacteria could be isolated. During the follow-up period (a median of 12 months), 23.4% of the patients died. The mortality rate during the initial hospital stay was 4.3%., Conclusion: One third of the patients with brain abscesses showed immunosuppressive conditions, whereas brain abscesses also often occur in patients with good medical conditions. The isolation of the focus of infection is often possible. Surgical procedures showed very good outcomes. Patients over 60 years showed significantly worse clinical outcomes.

Introduction: Autoimmune hypophysitis is a rare disease of the pituitary, which may affect vision by inflammation and compression of the optic chiasm. However, intrachiasmatic abscess formation has not been previously reported., Methods: In this study, we report a case of a 29-year-old female with bitemporal hemianopia due to a cystic intrasellar tumor. The patient underwent surgical decompression of the lesion, which was found to be an intrachiasmatic abscess., Results: The histologic findings were consistent with IgG4 hypophysitis., Conclusion: This rare clinical presentation suggests that in case of a disproportionate degree of visual impairment in relation to the size of the lesion, suspicion should lead to an intrachiasmatic lesion.

Background: Despite advances in laboratory diagnostics, antibiotic regimens, and neurosurgical techniques, brain abscess (BA) remains a potentially fatal infectious disease. This study analyzed clinical and epidemiological aspects of BA in Chinese patients treated at a single center during a 62-year period., Method: We retrospectively analyzed 620 BA patients treated at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, PR China from 1952 to 2014. Because of the initiation of imaging technology use in 1992, and other specific changes, we analyzed data over three study periods: 1952-1972, 1980-1991, and 2002-2014. Information including incidence, sex, age, community distribution, BA size and location, therapeutic method, prognosis and outcome of BA patients was collected and evaluated., Results: Our study included 620 BA patients. The percentage mortality significantly decreased from 22.8 % in 1952 to 6.3 % in 2014 (p < 0.001). Although the incidence of BA was higher in males than females, there was no significant change in the male/female incidence ratio over time: 2.5 in 1952-1972, 2.6 in 1980-1991, and 2.2 in 2002-2014. The cryptogenic infection incidence significantly increased over time (p < 0.001). The number of positive bacterial cultures significantly decreased over the three study periods (p < 0.01)., Conclusions: The prognosis of patients with BA has gradually improved over the past 62 years in Tianjin, China. This may be because improvements in neurosurgical techniques, cranial imaging, and antimicrobial regimens have facilitated less invasive and more precise neurosurgical procedures.

Background: The clinical impact of routine neuropathologic examination of samples from patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is unclear., Methods: Therefore, we evaluated a consecutive series of 378 surgical specimens from patients with ICH concerning demographic data, localization of hemorrhage, preoperative clinical diagnosis and neuropathological diagnosis., Results: Histological examination revealed the putative origin of ICH in 143 cases (37.8%). Vascular pathologies were detected in 127 patients (33.6%), while tumors were identified in 9 patients (2.4%), infarction in 6 patients (1.6%) and abscess in 1 patient (0.3%). Preoperatively, tumor was considered in 65 patients (17.2%), while vascular malformations were supposed in 94 patients (24.9%), infarction in 18 cases (4.8%) and abscess in 3 cases (0.8%). In 198 patients (52.4%) no specific assumption was made., Conclusions: Comparing preoperative assumptions and histological diagnoses, tumor, vascular malformations and infarctions were clinically overestimated, while arteriolosclerosis and amyloid angiopathy were underestimated. In conclusion, we found that histological findings potentially affecting clinical management and prognosis were obtained in 37.8% of cases. Our data suggest that histopathological examination of intracerebral hemorrhage provides important information for patient management and should be routinely performed.

We report an unusual case of a 10-year-old girl with neurocryptococcosis that was diagnosed only after histological examination of the cyst fluid obtained at surgery.

Background: Transorbital penetrating brain injuries are rare lesions without defined therapy standards., Clinical Presentation and Intervention: A male patient presented at our institution with a toilet brush handle in the right cerebral hemisphere. CT imaging identified the object entering the right orbit and having crossed the right hemisphere in the ventricular plane. After performing a medium-sized craniotomy, the object was removed step-by-step under monitoring with an intraoperative CT scan to ensure no involving major hemorrhage., Conclusion: Transorbital penetrating brain injuries are treated best by utilizing all up-to-date technical developments such as intraoperative CT-scanning to increase the safety in the management of such exceptional lesions with increased risk of immediate life-threatening intracranial bleeding.

Nocardia brain abscess is a rare central nervous system (CNS) infection that carries a high mortality rate reaching 34% which is considered the highest amongst brain abscesses caused by microorganisms. All available literature is in the form of retrospective studies and small case series. In this case report the authors present a patient whose course of disease was stormy and required multiple neurosurgical procedures. The clinical outcome, long-term follow up and a review of the literature is discussed.

A 68-year-old male presented with multiple cerebral abscesses. Possible intrathoracic embolic sources were not detected by echocardiography and chest radiography and the main lesion was surgically excised. Following deterioration of the neurological status, computerized tomography performed 2 weeks later revealed a mycotic aneurysm of the ascending aorta, probably related to a previous cardiac operation. This is the first case in the literature of aortic infection presenting as multiple brain abscesses.

The difficulties of differential diagnosis between intra- and suprasellar tumours resp. inflammatory processes are discussed, based on three personal cases. In all three computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MR) had demonstrated a tumour, but the clinical signs with discrepancies between radiological and clinical findings were pointing to an inflammatory process. The correct diagnosis of an inflammation was achieved by co-operation between neurologist, neurosurgeon, otologist and ophthalmologist. An unnecessary neurosurgical operation was avoided and the patients were cured by otological intervention and antibiotic therapy.

On the base of a stereotactic device originally described by Riechert and Mundinger a three-dimensional localization and treatment planning system for CT-guided computer assisted stereotactic procedures has been developed. The experience with 338 patients, in which image guided stereotaxy has been used for the assessment of various intracerebral lesions, is presented. In 54 of these patients the cannula was introduced with a 20 MHz Doppler-probe positioned at the tip of the needle. A comparison of tissue specimens taken stereotactically with tissue material after tumour resection and/or autopsy was performed in 35 patients. The accuracy of the histological diagnosis was 88%. Bleeding as a complication due to the stereotactic intervention occurred in 8 patients (2.4%). Two of these patients had a fatal outcome (mortality: 0.6%). The morbidity (transient and permanent deterioration of the clinical status) was 1.2%.

Rats were inoculated with staphylococcus aureus to produce cerebral abscesses and treated with either antibiotic or dexamethasone and with antibiotic plus dexamethasone at sequential stages of abscess formation. Antibiotic alone shortened the cerebritis stage, accelerated the encapsulation and affected the bacterial clearance in the abscess centre when it was started early in the course of cerebritis. Dexamethasone impaired the lymphocytic and fibroblastic responses and delayed the collagen deposition as well as suppressed the efficacy of antibiotic. However, it did not halt entirely the encapsulation and did reduce the associated cerebral oedema.

Two cases of pituitary abscess are reported. Bacteriological and histological findings of both cases are discussed, together with data available from the literature.

Intraoperative ultrasound diagnosis through a burr-hole was performed in 22 cases using a 5 MHz electronic sector-scanning transducer. The pathology along with the landmarks, such as ventricles and the interhemispheric fissure, were visualized. In two cases, a second burr-hole was placed nearby, and aspiration of the fluid was accomplished under real-time ultrasonic monitoring using the first hole as an acoustic window. Our results suggest a possibility of ultrasound-guided stereotactic surgery of the brain through twin burr-holes.

Brain abscess formation was studied experimentally in rats to determine the most appropriate nonsurgical treatment method by applying different combinations of hyaluronidase, dexamethasone and antibiotic sensitive to the inoculated bacteria in various stages of classical abscess development. The results showed that combined therapy with antibiotic and hyaluronidase started the day before inoculation averted the formation of brain abscess and the same therapy started after encapsulation, effectively eliminated the organisms and resolved the infection leaving a glial scar. But the same therapy, only started at the cerebritis stages, caused an increase of cerebritis. The addition of dexamethasone reduced the oedema but enhanced the cerebritis and delayed encapsulation. Though neurosurgical intervention continues to be the definitive method for eradicating the infection and preventing the pressure-related complications of brain abscess, our concept of management with hyaluronidase and appropriate antibiotic might be a new effective chemotherapeutic method of encapsulated brain abscesses in selected high-risk patients.

Three cases of brain abscesses caused by Ramichloridium obovoideum are reported. Inspite of adequate antifungal chemotherapy and multiple surgical procedures, all the three patients died of the rupture of a recurrant abscess into the ventricles. Ramichloridium obovoideum was identified as the causative fungus of these brain abscesses. Clinical, histological and mycological features of these cases are described. To our knowledge this is the first time that this fungus is isolated from a brain abscess in Saudi Arabia. The possibility that this life threatening cerebral mycosis may be endemic in this part of the world is considered.