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[Intracranial abscesses in children]
Boletin Medico Del Hospital Infantil De Mexico
|January 1, 1978
Insights
Early diagnosis and surgical intervention are key for treating brain abscesses. Prompt identification of symptoms like headache and vomiting, alongside imaging, improves patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Neurosurgery
- Infectious Diseases
Context:
- Brain abscesses are serious intracranial infections requiring timely management.
- Analysis of 23 consecutive cases provides insights into clinical presentation and therapeutic strategies.
Purpose:
- To report on the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of brain abscess patients.
- To highlight the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate intervention.
Summary:
- Common early symptoms include headache, vomiting, papilledema, focal neurological deficits, and fever.
- Diagnostic tools like skull roentgenograms, electroencephalograms, and echoencephalograms showed abnormalities in all tested cases.
- Effective therapy involved early, accurate localization followed by abscess aspiration or excision, while lumbar puncture was deemed hazardous and non-diagnostic.
Impact:
- Emphasizes the critical role of prompt diagnosis and surgical management in improving brain abscess patient outcomes.
- Discourages the use of lumbar puncture due to risks and limited diagnostic value in suspected brain abscess cases.
Abstract:
An analysis of 23 consecutive cases of brain abscess is reported. The most frequent early symptoms and signs were headache, vomiting, papiledema, focal neurological abnormalities and pyrexia. Roentgenogram of skull, electroencephahologram and ecoencephalogram were abnormal in all cases in which they were obtained. Therapy was based on early diagnosis with accurate location, aspiration or excision of the abscess. Lumbar puncture is hazardous and yields only suggestive information.