Redundant ventriculomegaly associated with brain abscess

The aim of this clinical retrospective review was to emphasize the recently observed high incidence of ventriculomegaly, a wellknown complication of brain abscesses.

Among twelve brain abscess cases operated on in our institution during five years, the most common surgical procedure was burr-hole aspiration applied in ten of the cases, while in the remaining two a standard craniotomy and total excision was performed. Ventriculomegaly was assessed by the "Evans' Ratio" values calculated using the frontal ventricular horn measurements made on axial tomographic images.

The signs, symptoms, radiological findings and clinical features of the patients were in accordance to the pertinent literature. The only finding worth commenting on was the surprisingly high incidence of ventriculomegaly (5/12) and periventricular edema (4/12). Concerning the outcome, there was only one death.

The "Evans' Ratio" either worsened or remained the same in four out of five cases during the early postoperative period (ranging from one to three months) and it got better in one case in the late postoperative control (1.5 years). Furthermore, periventricular edema persisted just in the same manner in three of the four cases.