Brain abscess. About a clinical series of 30 patients Absceso cerebral. A propósito de una serie de 30 casos

Abstract

A retrospective study was designed to ascertain the main clinical features of 30 patients admitted for brain abscess between 1989 and 2005. A contiguous source of infection was identified in 40% of cases, direct inoculation secondary to trauma or neurosurgery in 23,3%, and a distant source in 23,3%. Fever, headache and sensorial involvement were the main clinical manifestations. Temporal and frontal lesions were predominant. Microbiological information was available in only half of cases, prevailing polymicrobial and grampositive bacterial infections. Most patients underwent surgical procedures (66.7%) and the rest received only medical therapy. During antimicrobial treatment, 6 patients (20%) suffered a serious adverse event that prompted discontinuation or change of therapy. Failure of treatment was observed in 40%, including 3 deaths (10%), non-programmed surgical drainage or reintervention (16.7%) and changes of the antimicrobial regimen (13.3%). Eight patients were discharged with