Object In this study the authors' goal was to present the clinical and imaging results of the combined surgical and medical treatment of intracranial abscesses. Methods The authors retrospectively analyzed the data in 51 patients with intracranial abscesses who underwent surgery between January 1997 and November 2007. Patients were treated with aspiration through a single bur hole, total resection with open craniotomy, or image-guided stereotactic aspiration. Computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging was performed ~ 24 hours after surgery to evaluate the size of the abscess and almost weekly during follow-up until the abscess and/or cerebral edema was reduced. Clinical results were analyzed using modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores. Results There were 36 male and 15 female patients, and their ages ranged from 14 months to 58 years (mean 29 years). Adjacent localized cranial infection was the most common predisposing factor in 31 patients (61%). Thirty-two patients were treated by repeated aspiration via a single bur hole. Streptococcus and Staphylococcus species were isolated most frequently. No statistically significiant difference between causative organisms and clinical outcome was identified (p > 0.05). Assessment of overall 1-year clinical outcomes was favorable (mRS Scores 0–2) in 76.5% of patients (39 of 51 patients). The initial neurological condition was strongly correlated with the clinical outcome (p < 0.001). Conclusions A combination of surgical aspiration or removal of all abscesses > 2.5 cm in diameter, a 6-week or longer course of intravenous antibiotics, and weekly neuroimaging should yield cure rates of > 90% in patients with intracranial abscesses.

The aim of our study is to evaluate the results and effectiveness of bilateral decompression via a unilateral approach in the treatment of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. We have conducted a prospective study to compare the midterm outcome of unilateral laminotomy with unilateral laminectomy. One hundred patients with 269 levels of lumbar stenosis without instability were randomized to two treatment groups: unilateral laminectomy (Group 1), and laminotomy (Group 2). Clinical outcomes were assessed with the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36). Spinal canal size was measured pre- and postoperatively. The spinal canal was increased to 4-6.1-fold (mean 5.1 +/- SD 0.8-fold) the preoperative size in Group 1, and 3.3-5.9-fold (mean 4.7 +/- SD 1.1-fold) the preoperative size in Group 2. The mean follow-up time was 5.4 years (range 4-7 years). The ODI scores decreased significantly in both early and late follow-up evaluations and the SF-36 scores demonstrated significant improvement in late follow-up results in our series. Analysis of clinical outcome showed no statistical differences between two groups. For degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis unilateral approaches allowed sufficient and safe decompression of the neural structures and adequate preservation of vertebral stability, resulted in a highly significant reduction of symptoms and disability, and improved health-related quality of life.

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