[Intracranial collections of pus. A review of 100 cases].

INTRODUCTION

In recent decades, important scientific advances have been made, leading to modification of the diagnosis and the treatment of intracranial collections of pus (ICP).

OBJECTIVES

To analyze the changes in various clinicopathological aspects of ICP during the twenty years studied.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

We present a retrospective analysis of 100 cases of ICP diagnosed between 1979 and 1998 in the Hospital General de Galicia. We divided the patients into two groups: A (1979-1988) and B (1989-1998), and analyzed the similarities and differences between them.

RESULTS

In these two decades, there was a predominance of men over women (4/1) ENT infections (30/100) and surgical-trauma (25/100) were the commonest causes. The diagnosis was established during the week the symptoms started in 40% of group A and 58.1% of group B. The most frequent site for abscesses was in the frontal lobes (28.5%) and temporal lobes (26.1%) and was closely related to the origin of the infection. Culture was positive in 45% of group A and in 60.3% of group B. The commonest micro-organisms found were Streptococcus (38%) and Staphylococcus (26%). More anaerobes were observed in the second decade. The most usual surgical treatment was excision (86%). Mortality was 33.3% in the first decade and 5.4% in the second.

CONCLUSION

Technological improvements permit earlier, more reliable radiological and micro-biological diagnosis as well as lower morbi-mortality figures for ICP.