scholarly journals Surgical Treatment of a Chronic Brain Abscess and Growing Skull Fracture in a Dog

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Amy W. Hodshon ◽  
Jill Narak ◽  
Linden E. Craig ◽  
Andrea Matthews

A 2-year-old female spayed Miniature Dachshund was presented for seizures and right prosencephalic signs. A multiloculated, ring-enhancing mass in the right cerebrum associated with dilation of the right lateral ventricle and brain herniation was seen on magnetic resonance imaging. An irregular calvarial defect with smoothly scalloped edges was seen overlying the mass on computed tomography. The mass was removed via craniectomy and was diagnosed as a chronic brain abscess caused byPeptostreptococcus anaerobius. The patient was maintained on antibiotics for 12 weeks. Follow-up MRI performed 14 weeks after surgery confirmed complete removal of the abscess as well as a contrast-enhancing collection of extra-axial material consistent with a chronic subdural hematoma. The neurologic abnormalities, including seizures, have improved in the 44 months since surgery. Brain abscesses in dogs can have an insidious clinical course prior to causing serious neurologic deterioration. Ventricular entrapment by an intracranial mass can contribute to acute neurologic decline. If surgically accessible, outcome following removal of a brain abscess can be excellent; aerobic and anaerobic bacterial culture should be performed in these cases. Subdural hematoma can occur following removal of a large intracranial mass. Growing skull fractures can occur in dogs but may not require specific surgical considerations.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 239
Author(s):  
Randall Faber ◽  
Christina N. Feller ◽  
Natalie Gofman ◽  
John Fletcher ◽  
Hirad S. Hedayat

Background: The most common neuroradiological finding in pediatric nonaccidental trauma (NAT) is subdural hematoma (SDH). Management options for pediatric SDH range from conservative clinical surveillance to craniotomy or decompressive craniectomy. The middle meningeal artery (MMA) indirectly feeds the hematoma; thus, MMA embolization is an alternative or adjunct to current surgical treatments in adults. Herein, we present, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported case of successful MMA embolization in a pediatric patient as an adjunct to current standard treatment for chronic SDH (cSDH). Case Description: An 18-month-old male with a history of NAT presented at 5 months of age with an acute right parietal skull fracture and bilateral SDH treated with burr hole drainage. He was lost to follow-up until 15 months of age with an increased head circumference and new dysconjugate gaze. Imaging revealed a right-sided cSDH and underwent craniotomy. Six-week follow-up revealed significant improvement in the SDH but cSDH remained at the periphery of the craniotomy’s reach. The patient symptoms continued. The right-sided MMA embolization was offered as option to avoid repeat craniotomy. Follow-up CTs at 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months postprocedure revealed decrease of cSDH size and density. At 8-month follow-up, the patient continued to meet developmental milestones with near resolution of his dysconjugate gaze. Conclusion: This case report details the first successful use of MMA embolization in the treatment of pediatric cSDH as an adjunct to standard treatment. Further investigation of MMA embolization in pediatrics should be made to expand options available for cSDH in this patient population.


Author(s):  
Guilherme Finger ◽  
Maria Eduarda Conte Gripa ◽  
Tiago Paczko Bozko Cecchini ◽  
Tobias Ludwig do Nascimento

AbstractNocardia brain abscess is a rare clinical entity, accounting for 2% of all brain abscesses, associated with high morbidity and a mortality rate 3 times higher than brain abscesses caused by other bacteria. Proper investigation and treatment, characterized by a long-term antibiotic therapy, play an important role on the outcome of the patient. The authors describe a case of a patient without neurological comorbidities who developed clinical signs of right occipital lobe impairment and seizures, whose investigation demonstrated brain abscess caused by Nocardia spp. The patient was treated surgically followed by antibiotic therapy with a great outcome after 1 year of follow-up.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (01) ◽  
pp. 008-015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benaissa Abdennebi ◽  
Maher Al Shamiri

Abstract Background Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is a major cause of neurosurgical emergencies in the elderly. Despite the use of routine surgical practices, recurrence of this condition is expected. This study was conducted to identify the risk factors (RF) for recurrent CSDH. Methods Between January 2016 and July 2017, 103 consecutive patients suffering from CSDH were admitted to our department. The no-recurrence group (NRG) consisted of 91 patients, and the recurrence group (RG) consisted of 12 patients. To identify the RF involved in recurrent CSDH, we analyzed multiple factors, including patient comorbidities and imaging data. Results Between the two groups, there were no statistical differences (p > 0.05) for head trauma, diabetes mellitus (DM), high blood pressure, heart diseases, anticoagulation agents, or seizures; however, DM was associated with one of the above-mentioned factors. In contrast, there were significant differences for antiplatelet agents (APA) (p < 10–6) and the right side of the hematoma location (p = 0.03). Conclusion Although the literature highlights the controversy regarding RF for CSDH, we detected APA and the right side as RF, whereas DM alone or associated with another comorbidity does not affect the CSDH outcome.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 283-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMIL FARHAT NETO ◽  
João Luiz Vitorino Araujo ◽  
Vinícius Ricieri Ferraz ◽  
Luciano Haddad ◽  
José Carlos Esteves Veiga

Objective : To characterize patients with chronic subdural hematoma undergoing surgery and to identify prognostic indicators. Methods : We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) undergoing surgical treatment. We analyzed: age, period from trauma to diagnostic imaging, pre and postoperative Glasgow coma scale, type of surgery, associated comorbidities, use of postoperative drainage and outpatient treatment. Results : The sample consisted of 176 patients, 126 male and 50 female patients (ratio 2.5 : 1), ages ranged from six months to 97 years, with an average of 59.3 years. CSDH was caused by trauma in 52% of patients, with the time from trauma to imaging averaging 25.05 days; 37.7% were hypertensive patients and 20% had a neurological disease. Eighty-five (48.3%) patients were elderly and altered consciousness was present in 63% of cases. Of the 91 (51.7%) non-elderly patients, 44% presented with headache, altered consciousness occurred in 40% and motor abnormalities in 27.5%. The CSDH was located on the right in 41%, left in 43% and bilaterally in 16% of patients. Conclusion : the change of consciousness was the most common clinical alteration in the elderly and headache in non-elderly. The most associated comorbidity was the arterial hypertension and the most frequent cause, head trauma. The trepanation with two oriffices associated with a closed drainage system was the most used operating, with high efficacy and low complication rate.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alpha Boubacar Bah ◽  
Seylan Diawara ◽  
Ibrahima Sory Souare ◽  
Abdoulaye Barry ◽  
Ansoumane Donzo ◽  
...  

Bedside percutaneous twist drill aspiration (TDA) is described as a surgical method of management of Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) and appear to be a reasonable approach in low medical resources environment. We report the results of TDA of CSDH in a single tertiary centre in Conakry Republic of Guinea in West Africa, for the period March 2015 to October 2017. The charts and medical record of 38 cases of CSDH treated with TDA were collected retrospectively, with a mean follow-up of 84.2 days. The outcome data assessed were neurologic status evaluated by the follow-up Markwalder grading scale (MGS: 0=normal to 4=coma), recurrence, infection and mortality. The Male-Female ratio was 1.3:1. Mean age at diagnosis was 78.2+/-12 years. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) was identified as causal in 28.2% of cases studied. All patients were operated on under local anesthesia and had a postoperative drain left in place for 3 days. The mean postoperative MGS was 1.06, up from a mean preoperative MGS of 3.7. Two cases of recurrence occurred subsequent to TDA causing death and three other patients died from unknown causes during the follow-up period. No cases of post-operative infection were diagnosed during the follow-up. Our study shows that Bedside TDA appears to be a suitable alternative to burr hole craniotomies in urgent cases of CSDH in the low socio-economic setting, where a surgical theatre is not always available.


2011 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Bernardes Miranda ◽  
Ernest Braxton ◽  
Joseph Hobbs ◽  
Matthew R. Quigley

Object Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is perceived to be a “benign,” easily treated condition in the elderly, but reported follow-up periods are brief, usually limited to acute hospitalization. Methods The authors conducted a retrospective review of data obtained in a prospectively identified consecutive series of adult patients admitted to their institution between September 2000 and February 2008 and in whom there was a CT diagnosis of CSDH. Survival data were compared to life-table data. Results Of the 209 cases analyzed, 63% were men and the mean age was 80.6 years (range 65–96 years). Primary surgical interventions performed were bur holes in 21 patients, twist-drill closed-system drainage in 44, and craniotomies in 72. An additional 72 patients were simply observed. Reoperations were recorded in 5 patients—4 who had previously undergone twist-drill drainage and 1 who had previously undergone a bur hole procedure (p = 0.41, chi-square analysis). Thirty-five patients (16.7%) died in hospital, 130 were discharged to rehabilitation or a skilled care facility, and 44 returned home. The follow-up period extended to a maximum of 8.3 years (median 1.45 years). Six-month and 1-year mortality rates were 26.3% and 32%, respectively. In the multivariate analysis (step-wise logistic regression), the sole factor that predicted in-hospital death was neurological status on admission (OR 2.1, p = 0.02, for each step). Following discharge, the median survival in the remaining cohort was 4.4 years. In the Cox proportional hazards model, only age (hazard ratio [HR] 1.06/year, p = 0.02) and discharge to home (HR 0.24, p = 0.01) were related to survival, whereas the type of intervention, whether surgery was performed, size of subdural hematoma, amount of shift, bilateral subdural hematomas, and anticoagulant agent use did not affect the long- or short-term mortality rate. Comparison of postdischarge survival and anticipated actuarial survival demonstrated a markedly increased mortality rate in the CSDH group (median survival 4.4 vs 6 years, respectively; HR 1.94, p = 0.0002, log-rank test). This excess mortality rate was also observed at 6 months postdischarge with evidence of normalization only at 1 year. Conclusions In this first report of the long-term outcome of elderly patients with CSDH the authors observed persistent excess mortality up to 1 year beyond diagnosis. This belies the notion that CSDH is a benign disease and indicates it is a marker of other underlying chronic diseases similar to hip fracture.


Neurosurgery ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1140-1146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murat Kutlay ◽  
Ahmet Çolak ◽  
Şenol Yıldız ◽  
Nusret Demircan ◽  
Osman Niyazi Akın

Abstract OBJECTIVE: Despite advances in surgical techniques in the management of the brain abscess, long-term antibiotics are as crucial to cure as the initial surgical procedure itself. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on the duration of antibiotic treatment. METHODS: Between 1999 and 2004, 13 patients with bacterial brain abscesses treated with stereotactic aspiration combined with HBO and systemic antibiotic therapy. Patients younger than 18 years of age were excluded from this study. Postoperatively, all patients were given a 4-week course of intravenous antibiotics. Additionally, patients received hyperbaric oxygen (HBO, 100% O2 at 2.5 ATA for 60 min) twice daily for five consecutive days, and an additional treatment (100% O2 at 2.5 ATA for 60 min daily) was given for 25 days. RESULTS: There were eight male and five female patients. Their ages ranged between 18 and 71 years, with a mean of 43.9 years. The average duration of follow-up was 9.5 months (range, 8–13 mo). This treatment modality allowed infection control and healing for all 13 patients with 0% recurrence rate. HBO treatment was tolerated well, and there were no adverse effects of pressurization. At the end of the follow-up period, 12 patients had a good outcome: nine are without sequelae, and three have a mild hemiparesis but are capable of self-care. One patient has a moderate hemiparesis. CONCLUSION: Although the number of patients is small, this series represents the largest reported group of brain abscess patients treated with stereotactic aspiration combined with antibiotic and HBO therapy. Our preliminary results indicate that the length of time on antibiotics can be shortened with the use of HBO as an adjunctive treatment.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Tempaku ◽  
Shigeru Yamauchi ◽  
Hidetoshi Ikeda ◽  
Nobuyuki Tsubota ◽  
Hironori Furukawa ◽  
...  

Purpose Although several strategies against recurrent chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) have been proposed, no consensus has been established. Recently, middle meningeal artery (MMA) embolization has been proposed as radical treatment for recurrent CSDH. We wanted to estimate the usefulness of MMA embolization for recurrent CSDH. Methods From February 2012 to June 2013, 110 patients with CSDH underwent single burr-hole surgery with irrigation and drainage. Among these patients, 13 showed recurrent hematoma formation and were retreated surgically. Furthermore, repeated recurrence of CSDH was observed in six patients. Five of these six patients underwent middle meningeal artery (MMA) embolization with polyvinyl alcohol particles. All five patients with interventional treatment were observed for four to 60 weeks. Results No more recurrence of CSDH was observed in any of the patients. During the follow-up period, no patients suffered from any side effects or complications from the interventional treatment. Conclusion MMA embolization with careful attention paid to the procedure might be a treatment of choice for recurrent CSDH.


Author(s):  
Blanca Piedra Herrera ◽  
Yanet Yanet Acosta Piedra

Chronic subdural hematoma (CSH) is a common neurosurgical pathology that is recognized as a consequence of minor head injuries that are usually diagnosed in senile patients, although it can occur in young patients without a history of trauma. The objective of this work is the presentation of a patient with a bilateral CSH, with unusual characteristics. Clinical case: a 46-year-old female patient with no history of head trauma or other concomitant pathology is presented, who consulted for a 15-day-old headache. Physical examination confirmed mydriasis, Hutchinson’s pupil, bilateral papilledema and exophoria of the right eye, third cranial nerve palsy, and trunk ataxia. She was cataloged with Glasgow 13. Early anti-cerebral edema treatment was performed and the manifestations largely disappeared. A computed tomography scan diagnosed a bilateral fronto temporal subdural hematoma with displacement of the midline structures to the left. She underwent emergency surgery and was discharged completely recovered three days later. Conclusion: HSC can present with different clinical forms, simulating expansive tumor processes, cerebrovascular attacks, dementias or neurological entities of another nature. The case management by clinicians and neurosurgeons was quick and effective, which explains that the patient had an early and complete recovery. In these cases, medical action is decisive in the success of the treatment.


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