Spinal cord abscesses are extremely rare, even in intravenous drug abusers. They usually have a poor prognosis unless diagnosed and treated promptly. MRI is the best imaging modality for diagnosis and follow-up. We report a 42-year-old man, an active intravenous drug user, HIV negative, who developed subacute tetraplegia from an intramedullary abscess caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Immediate decompressive surgery and antibiotic treatment led to progressive recovery.
In this paper, the authors present the contribution of CT and MRI to the diagnosis of acute stroke caused by arterial or venous occlusion. The term "early" used in this context means within 6 h of the onset of symptoms. Signs of early ischemic edema are subtle and sometimes difficult to detect by CT or MRI. The purpose of this presentation is to familiarize the clinician and the radiologist with the subtle brain parenchymal changes seen within the first 6 h after onset of symptoms, in order to improve detection of early ischemic infarction and to improve patient care.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.