Brain abscess: with special reference to infection by pseudomonas.

Eighty cases of brain abscess treated in the University Hospital, BHU, Varanasi, India have been reviewed. Chronic suppurative otitis media was the commonest cause, followed by compound injuries. The overall mortality was 15%. In seven cases the causative organism was pseudomonas, resistant to most antibiotics. Prior to the availability of CT the mortality was 23.3%; after the routine use of CT for diagnosis the mortality fell to 10%. A high mortality (57%) was observed in patients who had pseudomonas. The best results were in patients who had been managed by excision of the abscess capsule.