Sajid Mushtaq, Iftikhar Ahmad Malik, Amir Hussain Khan, Saeed Afzal, Fayyaz Malik.
Brain abscess - an autopsy study of 25 cases
Pak J Pathol Apr - Jun 1996;7(2):42-4.
Department of Histopathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology

This study includes 25 histologically proven autopsy cases of brain abscess, retrieved from the records of Histopathology department of AFIP from 1983-1993. Among these 25 cases, 24 were male and one was female and the age ranged from 18-43 years. Clinical diagnosis of brain abscess was made in only 2 cases (8%). Major presenting features were headache (64%), fever (56%) and impairment of consciousness (56%). Pre-disposing factors included ear infection in 9 (36%) cases, followed by 4 cases (16%) with underlying heart and lung disease. Three cases had infections of face, spine and pelvis respectively. One case had a bullet injury of head. In 5 (20%a) cases no primary site of infection could be ascertained. Size of the abscess varied from 1 cm to the involvement of whole hemisphere and well circumscribed (with a capsule) in 60% of the cases. Twenty cases (80%) had cerebral involvement, cerebellum was involved in 20% of cases. Aetiological factors and locations of abscesses were similar to what had been reported in the western countries. However lack of diagnostic facilities like CT scan & MRI were the major factors responsible for an erroneous clinical diagnosis and hence inadequate management in majority of these cases.

Category: Neurology
Keywords: Brain Abscess. Autopsy.

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