[Thalamic abscess. A stereotaxically treatable lesion]

Solitary abscesses of the thalamus are an infrequent entity which carry serious problems with regard to treatment. We present a patient with an unknown septic focci who developed a right thalamic abscess due to Streptococcus constellatus and was treated by stereotaxic drainage for the suppuration and antibiotics. The patient was clinically and radiologically (CAT) controlled up until total cure of the lesion. Complications included dissemination of the infection to the meningeal space and a residual coreic picture controlled with tetrabenzine. The authors believe that evacuation by stereotaxic punction should be included among the therapeutic options available for deeply localized cerebral abscesses.