Surgical treatment of nocardial brain abscesses

OBJECTIVE: Nocardial brain abscesses are associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates. The optimal management remains unclear. We reviewed the surgical outcomes of patients treated with a relatively uniform policy at a single institution. METHODS: Eleven patients were treated at the Royal Adelaide Hospital between 1970 and 2001. Their clinical presentations, surgical treatment, and outcomes were reviewed. RESULTS: Clinical presentations most frequently involved focal neurological deficits (91%). Predisposing factors were identified for 63% of the patients. Nine patients were treated only with aspiration and long-term chemotherapy. Two patients underwent craniotomy and lesion excision. The majority of patients required either one or two procedures. There were no deaths in this series. Management complications were observed for three patients. Abscess aspiration was complicated by parenchymal hemorrhage and ventriculitis for one patient and temporary worsening of hemiparesis for two patients. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that aspiration alone (repeated as clinically indicated) is a safe, efficacious treatment for the majority of patients with nocardial brain abscesses.     

Resection of multiple nocardial brain abscesses: diagnostic role of computerized tomography.

We present a case of multiple brain lesions in which the preoperative computerized tomographic (CT) scan suggested the presence of brain abscesses rather than metastatic tumors. The patient presented with symptoms of left frontal and right cerebellar mass lesions, confirmed by carotid and vertebral arteriography and a radionuclide brain scan. A CT scan revealed multiple contiguous ring-enhancing lesions of various sizes at both sites. With the exception of a prior mild pulmonary infection, no findings suggested underlying malignancy, immunosuppression, or medical illness. We based our decision to administer antibiotics preoperatively on the presumed presence of abscess. We found and totally removed two multiloculated abscesses during one operation and initiated sulfa drug therapy (sulfisoxazole) immediately after identification of the Nocardia organism. The patient experienced no postoperative complications and at 6-months follow-up is clinically free of disease.     

Multiple brain abscesses

A young woman with 12 separate brain abscesses was treated medically after aspiration of one abscess for diagnostic bacteriological examination. She made an excellent recovery with only minimal residual neurological dysfunction. Surgical aspiration for detailed bacteriological studies followed by appropriate antimicrobial therapy is an effective way of treating multiple brain abscesses in the neurologically stable patient.     

Multiple pyogenic brain abscesses

Summary Thirty eight patients with multiple pyogenic brain abscesses constituted 11% of all the brain abscesses treated during a 12 year period. Sixty per cent (23) of the patients were in the first two decades of life, including 9 (24%) infants.The clinical presentation was similar to brain abscess in general. 21 patients had altered sensorium at the time of admission. Otogenic brain abscesses were the commonest (26%), followed by those associated with congenital cyanotic heart disease (18%).The abscesses were invariably large in size.The pus was sterile on culture in 11 (29%) patients, while Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest organism grown in 9 (24%) patients.Aspiration of the pus was required as a life saving measure, to control raised intracranial pressure, in 29 (76%) patients. Twelve (32%) of these patients underwent secondary excision of the abscess capsule.The overall mortality was 32% with failure to control intracranial and systemic infection as the major causes of mortality. Level of consciousness at the time of admission was the most significant factor affecting the outcome.Surgery has a definite therapeutic and life saving role in the management of multiple pyogenic brain abscesses. A systematic treatment plan for multiple abscesses is proposed.     

Experience with multiloculated brain abscesses

The author reports his experience with 10 consecutive multiloculated brain abscesses diagnosed by computerized tomography and successfully treated by excision (primary or early secondary) or repeated aspiration.     

Hypogammaglobulinemia and Nocardia brain abscesses

The host defense responses to Nocardia asteroides are not known. We have investigated a patient with common variable adult onset hypogammaglobulinemia who developed fatal disseminated nocardiosis. The patient had low levels of serum immunoglobulins; the total lymphocyte count was normal as were the percentages of circulating T and B cells. Transmission electron microscopic studies demonstrated typical N. asteroides within the brain parenchyma and nonspecific inflammatory changes in the central nervous system. The findings suggest that humoral immunity may play a major role in the host defense of patients with this disease.     

CT-guided stereotactic aspiration of brain abscesses

The effective treatment of intracranial abscess remains controversial. Progress in technology, linked with the development of neuronavigational systems, has made stereotactic aspiration and drainage of intracerebral abscesses effective and valid alternatives to traditional methods, namely, conservative medical treatment or open surgical excision. Between 1995 and 2002, 12 patients at our hospital underwent drainage of intracerebral abscesses under stereotactic guidance. Ten patients had solitary lesions and two had multiple abscesses. The appropriate antibiotic schemes were administered following culture of the aspirated material. The size of the abscess, the mass effect, and response to antibiotic treatment were followed up by repeated CT scans. All patients showed improvement and, at the end of treatment, returned to their previous activities. There were neither deaths nor any postoperative complication. A second aspiration was required in one patient due to recurrence of the abscess. The CT-guided stereotactic aspiration of brain abscesses helps achieve all treatment goals. It drains the contents of the abscess, reduces mass effect, and confirms diagnosis. It is minimally invasive, carries minimal morbidity and mortality, and can be performed on compromised patients under local anesthesia.     

CT-guided stereotactic aspiration of brain abscesses

The effective treatment of intracranial abscess remains controversial. Progress in technology, linked with the development of neuronavigational systems, has made stereotactic aspiration and drainage of intracerebral abscesses effective and valid alternatives to traditional methods, namely, conservative medical treatment or open surgical excision. Between 1995 and 2002, 12 patients at our hospital underwent drainage of intracerebral abscesses under stereotactic guidance. Ten patients had solitary lesions and two had multiple abscesses. The appropriate antibiotic schemes were administered following culture of the aspirated material. The size of the abscess, the mass effect, and response to antibiotic treatment were followed up by repeated CT scans. All patients showed improvement and, at the end of treatment, returned to their previous activities. There were neither deaths nor any postoperative complication. A second aspiration was required in one patient due to recurrence of the abscess. The CT-guided stereotactic aspiration of brain abscesses helps achieve all treatment goals. It drains the contents of the abscess, reduces mass effect, and confirms diagnosis. It is minimally invasive, carries minimal morbidity and mortality, and can be performed on compromised patients under local anesthesia.     

Nonoperative treatment of multiple brain abscesses

A patient with multiple brain abscesses who was successfully treated with antibiotics experienced complete resolution of disease and has no clinical evidence of residual neurological damage.     

Treatment by aspiration of brain abscesses

Sixteen patients, with a total of 18 abscesses, were treated by aspiration and systemic antibiotic therapy, to which antiepileptic prophylaxis and corticosteroids were added. Diagnosis of the abscesses and monitoring of their evolution relied principally upon computed tomography; this technique was also used per-operatively when aspirating small abscesses. Bacteriological examinations were positive in all our cases and a polymicrobial flora was found in half of these. One or, eventually, two aspirations within the same week were sufficient, in most cases, to promote healing. Nevertheless, in three patients, the abscesses, however sterilized, did not show any volume reduction, probably because of adhesions to the dura mater, of a large part of the abscess surface area. One patient died from concomitant cardiac disease and one patient remained seriously disabled. Epilepsy was observed as a sequela, in six patients. This study emphasizes the role of neuroradiological and bacteriological examinations, whilst surgery may be restricted, in most cases, to a simple aspiration.     

Calcified brain abscesses. Case report

A surgically treated case of multiple contiguous brain abscesses at different stages of calcification is reported. The patient, a man 48 years old, had been suffering from epilepsy for 34 years and he was complaining of headaches and fever for 15 days when admitted to our clinic. The post-operative neurological recovery was good.     

Difficulties in the diagnosis of brain abscesses

The diagnosis of brain abscesses has been improved during the last 10 years because to introduction of computerized tomography (CCT) and improved methods for the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Typical ring-like enhancement in the CT and an elevated CSF cell count combined with disturbances of the blood-brain barrier and elevated CSF lactate are common and confirm preliminary diagnoses. However, in spite of these procedures, brain abscess is still sometimes misdiagnosed because of the lack of pathological CT findings or a misleading case history sometimes causing cerebral affections. We present the case histories of two young patients in whom diagnosis of brain abscess was delayed. We recommend the immediate performance of contrast-enhanced CT and CSF analysis. If these procedures do not exclude a brain abscess, antibiotic treatment should be begun immediately.     

Endobronchial nocardial infection.

The rare presentation of nocardial infection as an endobronchial "tumour" is reported. Haematogenous dissemination occurred after fibreoptic bronchoscopy and biopsy, a phenomenon not previously described in nocardial infections. This case highlights the difficulties in diagnosing pulmonary nocardial infection and the potential for invasive procedures to disseminate the disease.     

脑脓肿的诊断和治疗(附20例报告)

目的探讨脑脓肿的诊断和治疗.方法1996年1月～2004年6月20例脑脓肿均行CT检查,8例行MR检查中2例行磁共振波谱检查,应用头孢曲松联合甲硝唑治疗1～9周,平均3.7周.CT或B超引导下3例行脓肿切除术,5例行脓肿穿刺引流术.结果1例因脓肿破入脑室死亡,16例治愈(无后遗症),3例好转(残留肢体偏瘫).8例手术患者无一例死亡.合并有糖尿病、结核、HIV抗体阳性及肾移植8例中4例治愈,无相关疾病12例治愈;脓肿与脑室关系密切9例中有5例治愈,脓肿表浅11例均治愈.5例多发脓肿均治愈,15例单发脓肿有11例治愈.结论脑脓肿早期诊断、早期抗感染治疗大部可治愈,MR是早期明确诊断的重要方法,立体定向手术是较好的手术方式.     

Large brain abscesses treated by aspiration alone

Five selected cases of large supratentorial brain abscesses, diagnosed by computerized tomography (CT) and successfully treated by aspiration alone, are reported. The two main techniques of treating brain abscesses are discussed briefly.