The author review 10 years' experience in managing brain abscess in childhood: 19 cases were treated in children from 1 to 18 years old. The etiology was rhinogenic in 5 cases, congenital heart disease in 5, hematogenous in 3, traumatic in 3, postoperative in 1, and unknown in 3 cases. Brain abscesses that developed by direct spread were located nearby the source, whereas metastatic abscesses (such as cardiogenic or hematogenous) in most cases spread via the vertebral-basilar system, usually developing in the parieto-occipital regions. Four of the 5 cases with multiple abscesses were cardiogenic and one hematogenous. The most important neurological signs were paresis (10 cases) and cranial nerve involvement (10 cases). Six abscesses were sterile and 6 grew aerobic and 6 anaerobic bacteria. In one case, aerobic as well as anaerobic bacteria were found. Fifteen patients were treated preoperatively with antibiotics. The treatment was operative in 17 cases. In two cases, gravely ill on admission, no surgical treatment was given. The etiology, localization, bacteriology, surgical methods, and results in those cases are discussed.
Four cases of brain abscess in neonates are described, diagnosed by ultrasonography and CT. All abscesses were confirmed surgically. One patient was operated on 5 weeks after diagnosis because of initial parental refusal. The etiology in all cases was meningitis superimposed on an hypoxic-ischemic insult. Two cases had a single abscess while the other two had multiple lesions. All cases were operated on with intraoperative ultrasound examination through the fontanelle. The case with delayed aspiration showed complete evolution from localized cerebritis to complete capsule formation with mass effect. One abscess was sterile, and in the others grew Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter aerogenes. The microorganism initially isolated from the lumbar CSF was also found in the abscess. Even after sterilization of the lumbar CSF, all abscesses were still present. Ultrasound examination and CT are compared.
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