Nocardial cerebral abscess: report of three cases and review of the current neurosurgical management

Nocardia asteroides cerebral abscesses are rare but challenging intracranial lesions. Early diagnosis, institution of appropriate antimicrobial therapy, lack of underlying systemic disease and limited intracranial disease are recognized factors leading to good outcome. However, the optimal treatment approach has not been established and nocardial brain abscesses have been managed either conservatively, with steroetactic aspirations or with open craniotomy and enucleation. We present three cases of Nocardia asteroides cerebral abscesses cured only after neurosurgical enucleation, and discuss the current management alternatives and conclude that a more aggressive approach than that currently preferred for this entity may be more effective.     

Neuro-Intensive Care of Patients with Acute CNS Infections

Infections in the central nervous system (CNS) are caused by a wide range of microorganisms resulting in distinct clinical syndromes including meningitis, encephalitis, and pyogenic infections, such as empyema and brain abscess. Bacterial and viral infections in the CNS can be rapidly fatal and can result in severe disability in survivors. Appropriate identification and acute management of these infections often occurs in a critical care setting and is vital to improving outcomes in this group of patients. This review of diagnosis and management of acute bacterial and viral infections in the CNS provides a general approach to patients with a suspected CNS infection and also provides a more detailed review of the diagnosis and management of patients with suspected bacterial meningitis, viral encephalitis, brain abscess, and subdural empyema.     

Post-neurosurgical nosocomial bacterial meningitis in adults: microbiology, clinical features, and outcomes.

The clinical data of 62 adult patients who suffered post-neurosurgical nosocomial bacterial meningitis, retrospectively collected over a 16-year period, were studied. Cases were divided into two groups based on the date of presentation, the first period being 1986-1993 and the second 1994-2001. Fever and progressive consciousness disturbance were the most consistent clinical features - signs that may also be attributed to other postoperative neurosurgical problems. The common pathogens included Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase negative Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Acinetobacter baumannii. An increase in polymicrobial infections and multi-antibiotic resistance during the second period was identified. In the first half of the study, mortality was 22%, and in the second half 36%. Adult post-neurosurgical nosocomial bacterial meningitis has become an important clinical problem. The choice of appropriate empirical antibiotics is challenging and must be guided by an awareness of the relative frequency of various pathogens and the increasing incidence of resistant strains. Although high mortality rates may, in part, be related to the primary brain pathology, early diagnosis and the timely use of antibiotics based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing are essential for survival.     

后颅窝相关术后近期颅内感染的临床分析

目的探讨后颅窝相关手术后近期感染临床特征及治疗方法。方法回顾性分析2001年1月至2011年11月行后颅窝相关手术治疗的980例患者的临床资料,对术后1月内出现颅内感染患者临床特征进行分析。结果980例患者中,术后1月内发生颅内感染69例,发生率为7.04%。69例颅内感染中革兰氏阳性球菌10例、革兰氏阴性杆菌46例,13例脑脊液培养无细菌生长。给予鞘内注射敏感抗生素、全身静脉用药及脑脊液置换治疗,68例患者治愈;因颅内感染死亡3例,死亡率0.31%。鞘内注射后发生癫痫发作12例,单或双侧下肢麻木、无力23例,大小便失禁2例,分别给予保守治疗后症状缓解。结论后颅窝相关手术后颅内感染发生率高,发生颅内感染应尽快行脑脊液细菌培养＋药敏试验,积极给予敏感抗生素治疗。     

Bradycardia in neurosurgery

Cushing reflex' is characterized by the occurrence of hypertension, bradycardia and apnoea secondary to raised increased intracranial pressure (ICP), leading to pressure on and or stretch, or both, of the brainstem. With the wide availability of monitoring facilities and advancements in investigation techniques, observation of increased intracranial pressure resulting in haemodynamic instability and bradycardia has been increasingly recognized in relation to many neurosurgical conditions and procedures. The causes of bradycardia include space occupying lesion involving or compressing the brain parenchyma (subdural haematoma, tumours, hydrocephalus), neurosurgical procedures (neuroendoscopy, placement of extradural drains), epileptic and non-epileptic seizures, trigemino-cardiac reflex, cerebellar lesions, spinal lesions (neurogenic shock, autonomic dysreflexia) and many other rare causes (Ventricular catheter obstruction in cases of hydrocephalus, colloid cysts related acute neurogenic cardiac dysfunction, Ondine's curse syndrome, etc.). This highlights that bradycardia can be a warning sign in many neurosurgical conditions and Cushing's reflex is a protective and effective action of the brain for preserving an adequate cerebral perfusion pressure despite an increased intracranial pressure. Management of these patients include identification and treatment of the underlying cause of bradycardia, anti-cholinergics and if necessary cardiac pacing, nevertheless, other causes of haemodynamic changes (i.e. anesthetic drugs, tumor manipulation) should also be considered and managed accordingly. We believe that this knowledge and understanding will help to identify the patients' at risk and will also help in the management of neurosurgical patients with bradycardia.     

Prophylactic antibiotics in neurosurgery]

The post-operative infection-rate in neurosurgical patients who received prophylactic antibiotics was compared to the infection-rate of patients who received no antibiotics. None of the 73 studied patients had pre-operative infection. Infections occured in 26,4% of the patients in the first group and in none of the second group (p less than 0,2); 27,5% of the patients with intracranial lesions and 9% of the patients with spinal lesions in the frist group had post-operative infections, and none in the second group (p less than 0,05 and 0.05 less than p less than 0.1). 67% of all the patients had severe neurological lesions; 27% of these had post-operative infections; only 4% of the patients with mild lesions had infections (p less than 0.05). Post-operative infections were severe and fatal in most of these cases. Prophylactic broad-spectrum antibiotics were of no value in preventing post-operative infections in these neurosurgical patients and those who received no antibiotics had a significantly lower rate of infections.     

Whipple''s disease presenting as an isolated lesion of the cervical spinal cord

Chronic myelitis from Whipple's disease of the spinal cord is extremely rare. The differential diagnosis includes chronic inflammatory lesions, viral or bacterial infections, and tumours of the spinal cord. Here we present a 50-year-old man with mild sensory deficits because of a large lesion of the cervical spinal cord who markedly showed improvement during probatory antibiotic therapy. PCR and jejunal biopsy were initially negative and only later confirmed the diagnosis of Whipple's disease. Clinical and neuroradiological criteria are suggested which may be of help in the early diagnosis of spinal Whipple's disease before confirmation by molecular biology or histology.     

Prophylaxis for Venous Thrombo-Embolism in Neurocritical Care: A Critical Appraisal

Venous thrombo-embolism (VTE) is frequently encountered in critically ill neurological and neurosurgical patients admitted to intensive care units. This patient population includes those with brain neoplasm, intracranial hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, pre- and post-operative patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures and those with traumatic brain injury, and acute spinal cord injury (SCI). There is a wide variability in clinical practice for thromboprophylaxis in these patients, in part due to paucity of data based on randomized clinical trials. Here, we review the current literature on the incidence of VTE in the critically ill neurological and neurosurgical patients as well as appraise available data to support particular practice paradigms for specific subsets of these patients. Data synthesis was conducted via search of Medline, Cochrane databases, and manual review of article bibliographies. Critically ill neurological and neurosurgical patients have higher susceptibility to VTE. Intermittent compression devices with or without anti-thrombotics is generally the method of choice for thromboprophylaxis. Low molecular weight heparin is the method of choice in certain patient subgroups such as those with SCI and ischemic stroke. Inferior vena cava filters may play a role in thromboprophylaxis in selected cases. Without clear guidelines that can be universally applied to this diverse group of patients, prophylaxis for VTE should be tailored to the individual patient with cautious assessment of benefits versus risks. There is a need for higher level evidence to guide VTE prophylaxis in certain subgroups of this patient population.     

隐源性脑脓肿1例报道及文献回顾

目的:了解隐源性脑脓肿的临床特点,总结诊疗经验,提高临床诊断的准确性,降低早期误诊率。方法:回顾分析1例经成功诊断和治疗的隐源性脑脓肿患者的临床表现、影像学特点,并结合文献对诊疗经验进行总结。结果:隐源性脑脓肿临床表现不典型,无明确感染途径,予经验性抗感染治疗,颅内病灶完全吸收,据此该病例临床诊断成立。结论:隐源性脑脓肿因感染源不明,起病隐匿,症状不典型易误诊,链球菌、葡萄球菌和厌氧菌是常见病原体。需与颅内结核瘤、脑寄生虫、脑胶质瘤、脑转移瘤等相鉴别。     

CTA在神经外科的应用

探讨ＣＴ血管造影对神经外科疾病，尤其血管性病变的诊断价值。方法采用螺旋ＣＴ扫描获得原始图像，用表面阴影成像和最大强度投影技术进行三维重建。在５１例患者中，发现动脉瘤１７例，ＡＶＭ６例，血管闭塞３例，脑膜瘤４例，椎管肿瘤２例，其他２例，未见异常１８例。结果ＣＴＡ能够清晰显示颅内动脉瘤和ＡＶＭ的部位、形状、大小及与周围结构的关系，结论ＣＴＡ是一种安全、快捷，简便的检查方法，尤适蛛网膜下腔出血和不明原因     

Bilateral papilledema: prospective study of fifty patients

In this prospective study, we report fifty consecutive cases of bilateral papilledema without neurosurgical or obvious ophthalmologic etiology, referred to our institution between January 2005 and March 2007. Lumbar puncture with opening CSF pressure measurement distinguished two groups of patients: Group 1 (n=39) with and Group 2 (n=11) without intracranial hypertension. In Group 1, 9/39 patients presented secondary intracranial hypertension mainly due to cerebral venous thrombosis. In 30 patients, after complete investigations, a diagnosis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension was made: as commonly reported, patients were predominantly overweight (96.7% with body mass index>25kg/m2) young (mean age=27.6 years) and women (96.7%). Eleven patients with intracranial hypertension had no headaches. In Group 2, the most common diagnosis was bilateral non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, but rare causes have been identified.     

Use of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography for evaluation of intracranial pressure]

Transcranial Doppler (TCD) studies are very useful for the evaluation of intracranial pressure changes. The most informative for the TCD increase diagnosis are the diastolic pressure decrease and increase of two computed indices: pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI). Single measurements can be misleading and therefore, monitoring of neurosurgical intensive care patients is suggested. Additional information is provided by TCD studies in cerebral blood flow autoregulation tests. The usefulness of TCD in brain death diagnosis is discussed also.     

¿Existen diferencias en el manejo neuroquirúrgico de las lesiones intracraneales en la paciente gestante? Resultados de nuestra experiencia y revisión de la literatura

ObjectiveThe main objective of our work is to revise our neurosurgical experience in pregnant patient and to carry out a revision of the related literature in order to optimize the neurosurgical handling of these kind of patients.MethodRetrospective study between august 1993 and June 2010. We included patients who were pregnant at the time and who presented any trace of cranial neurosurgical or spinal disease.ResultsThe research includes the cases of 12 patients aged between 17 and 37 years old with an average age of 28.8 years old. The average gestation period was of 24.17 weeks, finding 50% of the patients within their third three-month period of pregnancy at the moment of diagnosis, 25% in their second three-month period and the remaining 25% in their first three-month period. The mean follow-up duration for this series was 84 months. 4 of them presented brain vascular lesions, 5 presented brain tumor lesions, 1 of them presented Chiari malformation, one lumbar disc herniation and 1 patient suffered from traumatic intracraneal hemorrhage. 8 of the 12 patients were subjected to neurosurgical procedures under general anesthetic, 2 for aneurysm embolizations and 2 for conservative treatments. Between the neurosurgical procedures 6 craniotomies were done, of wich 4 were to resection of the tumor and 2 for aneurysm clippings. There were done a transesfenoidal approach and a lumbar microdiscectomy. 2 of the 6 patients given craniotomies required external ventricular drainage before the operation. 5 elective cesareans were done in the group of patients given the craniotomies whilst of the rest the pregnancy was allowed to bring to term for reasons of pulmonary maturity. In our patients there were no cases of therapeutic abortion. There was found no morbidity no mortality neither in the mother nor in the fetus related to surgery.ConclusionsIn our experience with pregnant patients who suffered from neurosurgical lesion and in the experience we got from the revision of the related literature, the surgery of intracranial lesions is well tolerated by the mothers and the fetus. It must though be considered, the possibility of labor through cesarean depending on the fetus’ lung maturity.     

Brain temperature in patients with central nervous system lesions

The knowledge of human brain temperature is still very limited. In this report we investigated the relationship between brain and trunk temperature in neurosurgical patients during normothermia and fever. Another problem addressed was that of possible gradients of temperature within the brain. We carried out direct recordings of temperature in 63 operated, neurosurgical patients with a variety of intracranial pathologies. Flexible, teflon-coated thermocouples were placed intracranially during neurosurgical procedures. Oesophageal, rectal and tympanic temperatures were also monitored. An error of up to 1.3 degrees C is to be expected in single cases if brain temperature is deduced from the rectal or oesophageal temperature. Mean differences between brain temperature and core body temperature measured in the rectum or in the oesophagus, were between 0 to 0.3 degree C. Tympanic temperature (Tty) improved the approximation of brain temperature (Tbr) to within the mean difference between Tbr-Tty close to 0 degree C. Nevertheless Tty also differed from Tbr by as much as 1 degree C in single cases. Brain temperature was the highest body temperature measured, either in normothermia or in fever. Temperature gradients were proved to exist between the warmer brain interior and cooler surface, with maximal differences in temperature reaching 0.6 degree C. This temperature gradient tended to increase along with the rise in intracranial pressure and deterioration of the level of consciousness. Our results suggest that conclusions regarding brain temperature drawn on the basis of other core temperatures, may lead to significant errors, and intracranial temperature measurement is desirable in neurosurgical intensive care. Temperature gradients within the brain may exacerbate its biochemical injury during ischaemia and fever--a combination seen frequently in neurosurgical patients. This may be particularly so, since brain temperature in fever is the highest body temperature in a high proportion of these patients.     

Early clinical signs and symptoms in occult spinal dysraphism: a retrospective case study of 47 patients.

Since occult spinal dysraphism can lead to irreversible neurological complications, early diagnosis and treatment are necessary. We retrospectively studied the presenting clinical signs and symptoms in all 47 cases of occult spinal dysraphism identified in two university hospitals in The Netherlands since 1965. Dermal sinus had been diagnosed in 12, lipomyelomeningocele in nine, and diastematomyelia in eight patients. Thirty-three patients had symptoms due to tethering of the spinal cord, leading to a clinical suspicion of occult spinal dysraphism in only eight cases. Twenty-eight patients had cutaneous back lesions that led to further investigation in eight cases. Nineteen patients had a small backmass leading to further examination in 13 cases. Three patients with dermal sinus presented with meningitis caused by an unusual aetiological agent. This study stresses the importance of identification of neurological dysfunction due to tethered cord syndrome, cutaneous back lesions, a small backmass and meningitis caused by an unusual aetiological agent for the early diagnosis of occult spinal dysraphism.     

影响颅脑外伤术后颅内感染的危险因素分析

目的探讨影响颅脑外伤开颅术后颅内感染的危险因素。方法采用回顾性研究比较分析了912例颅脑损伤术后出现颅内感染与未出现颅内感染组间的差异因素。结果非感染 770例,颅内感染142例(15．6％)。感染类型有无菌性脑膜炎、细菌性脑膜炎、脑室炎及脑室积脓、脑脓肿、硬膜下腔积脓、术区皮下或(和)骨瓣下化脓或合并骨髓炎、切口感染。细菌检出率占感染的27．5％。颅脑外伤术后感染与高温季节、高龄、重度以上损伤、短期内两次以上手术、连续两侧开颅术、长时间 (>5 h)手术、显微外科手术、颅底与后颅凹手术、脑室外引流、皮下或硬膜外积液以及急诊手术等因素相关(P<0．05)。结论对具有上述危险冈素的易感患者应给予更密切的关注和预防性的处理。     

Bifrontal decompressive craniectomy for acute subdural empyema

INTRODUCTION: Subdural empyema is an uncommon but serious complication of sinusitis. Despite the use of advanced imaging facilities, modern antibiotic therapy and aggressive neurosurgical protocols, this condition still carries significant morbidity and mortality. CASE REPORT: We report an unusual case of sinusitis-associated acute subdural empyema in a 13-year-old patient, presenting in a catastrophic manner with acutely raised intracranial pressure. Emergency bifrontal decompressive craniectomy was necessary both to reduce the intracranial pressure and to drain the subdural empyema. RESULTS: The full range of intracranial complications subsequently occurred, including brain abscesses, recurrent subdural empyema and ventriculitis. Despite this, the patient's outcome was good, with minimal intellectual deficits. CONCLUSION: In cases of severe intracranial infection, we therefore advocate an aggressive surgical approach coupled with appropriate antibiotics to ensure a good outcome.     

A polymerase chain reaction assay of cerebrospinal fluid in patients with suspected herpes simplex encephalitis.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect herpes simplex virus (HSV) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in CSF of 109 patients with possible herpes simplex encephalitis. HSV DNA was found in 20/109 patients. In 14 of these patients the diagnosis was confirmed by a rise in CSF antibodies, isolation of HSV from the brain, or both. In 3 patients CSF antibodies did not rise and 3 patients did not have a follow up lumbar puncture or a brain biopsy. In 19/20 patients HSV DNA was present in the first CSF specimen. The virus was identified as HSV I in 15 patients and HSV II in 4; the virus was not typed in the other patient. A possible diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis was not confirmed in the 89 PCR-negative patients. HSV DNA was present in CSF of 3 patients who had meningitis with herpetic genital infections but it was not found in 24 patients with other neurological diseases. The results suggest that the detection of HSV DNA in CSF using a PCR assay will be an accurate method of early diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis.     

颅内假性动脉瘤的手术治疗

目的探讨颅内假性动脉瘤的诊断和手术方法。方法回顾性分析16例手术治疗的颅内假性动脉瘤病人的临床及影像学特点．其中创伤性9例，感染性7例。结果出院时临床状况优良11例，轻残3例，死亡2例（其中1例为创伤性，术后发生脑梗死）。对12例行3个月。5年门诊随访，均未发生再出血。结论颅内假性动脉瘤是颅内动脉瘤中特殊且较复杂的类型，其诊断和处理策略与一般动脉瘤不同。提高对颅内假性动脉瘤的认识，以及有效应用神经外科技术，可以降低假性动脉瘤的手术风险，改善预后。     

Acute headache with meningism and xanthochromic cerebrospinal fluid.An unusual manifestation of cervical epidural abscess

We report on a 70-year-old female with acute onset of headache, meningism, xanthochromic cerebrospinal fluid, and developing laboratory parameters indicating a systemic infection. Initially, a subarachnoidal hemorrhage was assumed. However, magnetic resonance imaging showed upper cervical osteomyelitis and extending spinal epidural abscess. After application of broad systemic antibiotics, secluded abscess formation was achieved and successful neurosurgical debridement performed. The unusual cranial concentration of the complaints is probably due to the involvement of the craniocervical transition. Cervical epidural spinal abscess represents a potentially dangerous bacterial infection of the upper spine. Inadequate treatment can lead to irreversible neurological deficits. Cervical magnetic resonance imaging is an effective tool for diagnosis, since early diagnosis is important for good prognosis.