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Clinical features and predictive factors of intraventricular rupture in patients who have bacterial brain abscesses.

BACKGROUND: Intraventricular rupture of brain abscesses (IVRBA) remains a catastrophic and fatal complication of bacterial brain abscess (BBA). However, no information has been reported about the risk factors that are predictive of intraventricular rupture. METHODS: This study was undertaken to determine the potential risk factors that are predictive of intraventricular ruptures in patients with BBA but without intraventricular rupture when arriving at the hospital. A comparison is also made between patients who already have IVRBA at the time of admission (initial IVRBA) and those who have the episode during hospitalisation (subsequent IVRBA). RESULTS: 62 patients, including 45 who had initial IVRBA and 17 who had subsequent IVRBA, were examined. Stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that the adjusted risk of intraventricular rupture during hospitalisation for patients with multiloculated brain abscesses had an odds ratio (OR) of 4.2 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24 to 14.3; p = 0.02) compared with those without multiloculated brain abscesses (referent); a reduction of 1 mm in the distance between the ventricle and brain abscesses would increase the rupture rate by 10% (p = 0.006, OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.83 to 0.97). CONCLUSION: This study shows that if the abscess is deep seated, multiloculated and close to the ventricle wall, a reduction of 1 mm in the distance between the ventricle and brain abscesses will increase the rupture rate by 10%. Despite aggressive medical and surgical management shown in this series, many patients continue to progress poorly.

Adolescent↗

Periurethral gland abscess: aetiology and treatment.

OBJECTIVES: To establish some characteristics of patients with periurethral gland abscess, its microbiological profile, and response to treatment. METHOD: The patients were seen at the Khami Road Clinic, Bulawayo, a municipal STD referral clinic, serving an urban population. Twenty consecutive men with periurethral abscesses were studied. Demographic data and a sexual history were obtained from each patient. Aspirates from the abscess cavities and urethral swabs were collected for microbiology, and blood samples taken for syphilis and HIV serology. The patients were treated by aspiration of the abscess cavities, followed by a single injection of kanamycin 2.0 g followed by a 1 week course of oral doxycycline 100 mg twice daily. RESULTS: Neisseria gonorrhoeae was cultured from three aspirates and five urethral specimens. Chlamydia trachomatis was found in two aspirates and three urethral specimens. Other organisms isolated included Gram negative and anaerobic bacilli. HIV antibody was detected in 13 of 18 patients tested. The response to initial treatment was good, but the abscesses ruptured in two patients, one of whom developed a urinary fistula. One patient required treatment with an alternative antimicrobial regimen. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a role for N gonorrhoeae and possibly for C trachomatis in the aetiology of periurethral abscess. The prevalence of HIV infection in these patients was high. The results of treatment of periurethral abscess by aspiration of pus and followed by antimicrobial therapy covering both N gonorrhoeae and C trachomatis were acceptable.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Transgluteal approach for percutaneous drainage of deep pelvic abscesses: 154 cases.

PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness of a computed tomographic (CT) image-guided transgluteal approach for percutaneous drainage of deep pelvic abscesses as an alternative to surgical drainage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 140 patients who underwent percutaneous CT-guided transgluteal drainage of 154 deep pelvic abscesses were reviewed to determine the origins, location, and size of the abscesses; volume of initial aspirate; organisms identified in fluid culture; duration of catheter drainage; incidence of catheter-related pain and procedure-related complications; and short- and long-term outcomes. The resultant data were analyzed with a Fisher exact test for difference in the incidence of postprocedural catheter-site pain between transpiriformis and infrapiriformis approaches. RESULTS: The origins of the pelvic abscesses included postoperative fluid collection (n = 115), perforating appendicitis (n = 6), diverticulitis (n = 16), tubo-ovarian inflammation (n = 5), Crohn disease (n = 10), and internal bowel fistula due to irradiation (n = 2). The abscesses were 4-12 cm in diameter. The volume of the aspirate was 5-310 mL. Laboratory cultures of the aspirate grew mixed flora, but the organism most frequently isolated was Escherichia coli. Catheters were removed after a mean of 8 days. In 134 (96%) of 140 patients, there was complete resolution of the abscess following transgluteal drainage, without subsequent surgery. In six of 140 (4%) patients, incomplete resolution necessitated subsequent surgery for postoperative fluid collection (n = 3), diverticulitis (n = 2), or perforating appendicitis (n = 1). Complications of transgluteal drainage were rare and included hemorrhage in three (2%) of the 140 patients. There was no procedure-related mortality. A transpiriformis approach was significantly more likely to be associated with postprocedural pain (P <.001) than was an infrapiriformis approach. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous CT-guided transgluteal drainage is a safe and effective alternative to surgery for deep pelvic abscesses. Major complications are rare.

Abscess↗

Abscesses in Crohn disease: percutaneous drainage.

Fifteen patients with Crohn disease underwent percutaneous catheter drainage of related abdominal abscesses. The abscesses were located in the right lower quadrant (five patients); in the quadratus lumborum and/or iliopsoas muscles (four patients); in the left paracolic gutter (two patients); and in the right gluteal muscles, the liver, the left subphrenic space, and the pelvis (one patient each). All abscesses were evacuated successfully (n = 15 of 15), and no patient required surgery for abscess drainage. Existing fistulas closed in four of seven patients; the other three patients underwent surgery for excision of diseased bowel and enteric fistulas. No patient developed an enterocutaneous fistula as a result of catheter drainage. Percutaneous abscess drainage is effective for abscesses related to Crohn disease and should be regarded as the procedure of choice. An operation for the abscess can be avoided, and early results suggest that bowel surgery may be obviated in selected patients.

Abscess↗

Medical treatment of hepatic amebic abscess: rare need for percutaneous drainage.

Although amebic liver abscess can virtually always be successfully treated medically, percutaneous drainage has been advocated recently. In 96 recently treated patients, therapeutic aspiration and percutaneous drainage were rarely needed. Most cases were correctly diagnosed by means of clinical, laboratory, and sonographic findings. Abscesses in only 13 (13.5%) patients were diagnostically aspirated. An abscess in one patient was therapeutically aspirated because the patient was responding slowly to medical therapy. No patient required catheter drainage. The key to successful amebic abscess management is medical therapy. Therapeutic drainage is rarely needed. Successfully treated patients occasionally respond slowly to medical therapy, and successfully treated amebic abscesses may enlarge or become bizarre-appearing on sonograms. This should not prompt therapeutic drainage. Diagnostic aspiration is appropriate when amebic and pyogenic abscesses are indistinguishable using clinical and imaging findings. Rare indications for therapeutic aspiration or drainage include pyogenic superinfection and large, juxtacardiac abscesses (potential intrapericardial rupture).

Chloroquine↗

Lung abscess: CT-guided drainage.

Lung abscesses were drained by means of catheters guided by computed tomography (CT) in 19 patients who still had sepsis despite standard medical therapy; all patients had received antibiotics for at least 5 days, and 11 of the 19 patients had undergone bronchoscopy. The abscess was cured (by clinical and radiographic criteria) in all 19 patients (100%), and surgery was avoided in 16 of the 19 patients (84%). Three patients underwent surgery for removal of organized tissue or decortication after the lung abscess was evacuated. Complications included a hemothorax that required a chest tube in one patient and three minor complications (a clogged catheter in two patients and transient elevation of intracerebral pressure in one patient). The hemothorax occurred in one of two patients in whom the catheter traversed normal lung. The percutaneous drainage catheters traversed juxtaposed abnormal pleura on route to the abscess in 17 of the patients. CT-guided drainage of lung abscess is an effective method to treat lung abscesses that are refractory to conventional therapy; the procedure should obviate major operation in most patients. A catheter route through abscess-pleural syndesis is preferable, and CT is useful for planning this route.

Adolescent↗

Lung abscesses: US examination and US-guided transthoracic aspiration.

Examinations with ultrasound (US) and US-guided transthoracic aspiration were conducted in 35 patients to enable diagnosis of lung abscesses. Thirty-three of the abscesses (94%) were demonstrated at US, while two lesions were not depicted. At US, lung abscesses were depicted as hypoechoic lesions with irregular outer margins and an abscess cavity that was manifested as a hyperechoic ring. Twenty-five abscesses (71%) had local adhesion to parietal pleura (lesion-pleura symphysis). US-guided transthoracic needle aspiration of fluid from the abscess cavity was performed successfully in 31 of 33 patients (94%). A total of 65 pathogens were isolated from 31 aspirates (41 anaerobes and 24 aerobes), not-withstanding the fact that 23 of the patients had been previously treated with antibiotics. Only two of 65 pathogens (3%) could be recovered from blood culture, seven (11%) from sputum culture, and two from bronchoalveolar lavage (3%). Two patients developed minimal pneumothorax. The authors conclude that US examination and US-guided transthoracic aspiration are useful and safe diagnostic methods of collecting specimens to enable accurate diagnosis of lung abscesses.

Adolescent↗

Group F streptococcal bacteremia complicating a Bartholin's abscess.

BACKGROUND: Group F streptococci are gram-positive cocci typically isolated from wound infections and abscesses. Bacteremia with group F streptococcus is uncommon, and the lower gynecologic tract has not been reported as a source. We report a case of a Bartholin's abscess leading to group F streptococcal bacteremia. CASE: A 31-year-old female noted fever and rigors 30 min after manipulation of a 3-day-old vulvar abscess. An empty Bartholin's gland abscess was found on examination, and blood cultures grew beta-hemolytic group F streptococci. The patient was treated with ampicillin/sulbactam, symptoms improved, and follow-up blood cultures revealed no growth. CONCLUSION: Group F streptococci are known to inhabit various body sites and have a predilection for forming abscesses; however, bacteremia is infrequent. They have occasionally been identified in true infections of the genitourinary tract but only very rarely in Bartholin's abscesses. This case of group F streptococcal bacteremia following self-drainage of a Bartholin's abscess constitutes the first such description in the medical literature.

Abscess↗

Principles of antibiotic penetration into abscess fluid.

Although drainage is considered the gold standard in abscess treatment, abscesses of different sizes and locations have been successfully cured by means of antibiotic treatment alone. The penetration of an antibiotic into an encapsulated purulent lesion is limited and highly dependent on the degree of abscess maturation. In fact, in vivo pharmacokinetic data demonstrate that substantial antibiotic concentrations can be reached within abscesses in humans and animals, provided the choice of an appropriate agent and an optimal dosing regimen. However, the efficacy of antibiotics in pus may be hampered by various factors like low pH, protein binding and degradation by bacterial enzymes. This article provides a comprehensive review on conservative abscess treatment, presenting clinical data on success rates of antibiotic therapy. Antibiotic concentrations measured in abscesses of humans and animals are outlined, and theoretical considerations on the understanding of pharmacokinetics and efficacy of antibiotics in abscesses are discussed.

Abscess↗

Microbiology of abscesses of the head and neck in children.

Specimens from 36 children with abscesses of the neck and 31 children with abscesses of the head were cultured for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Antimicrobial therapy was administered to 51 of the 67 patients (76%) prior to sample collection. In specimens obtained from neck infections, aerobic bacteria only were recovered in 24 (67%), anaerobic bacteria only in seven (19%), and mixed aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in five (14%). In abscesses of the head, aerobic bacteria only were recovered in 11 (35%), anaerobic bacteria only in eight (26%), and mixed aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in 12 (39%). Of a total of 52 isolates recovered from neck abscesses (1.4 per specimen), 34 were aerobes (0.9 per specimen), and 18 were anaerobes (0.5 per specimen). Of a total of 62 isolates recovered from head abscesses (2.0 per specimen), 20 were aerobes (0.6 per specimen), and 42 were anaerobes (1.4 per specimen). The most frequently recovered organism in neck infection was Staphylococcus aureus (20 isolates), and the most frequently recovered organism in head infection was Bacteroides sp (19 isolates). beta-Lactamase activity was detected in 36 isolates recovered in 21 abscesses (46%). Correlation between the predisposing conditions and the bacteria recovered showed a higher recovery of anaerobes in patients with dental infection or manipulation, tonsillitis, and fetal monitoring. Staphylococcus aureus was associated with trauma. This study demonstrated the importance of anaerobic bacteria in abscesses in the head and neck, especially in infections originating from sites where these organisms are the predominant flora.

Abscess↗

Horseshoe abscesses and fistulas: how are we doing?

BACKGROUND: Various surgical treatments exist for horseshoe abscesses and fistulae, including posterior midline sphincterotomy, catheter drainage, cutting and draining setons, and advancement flaps. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term results of patients treated for these complex anorectal problems. METHODS: A retrospective review was undertaken of patients with a diagnosis of horseshoe abscess, horseshoe fistula, postanal space abscess, or postanal space fistula from 1990 to 2001. Long-term follow-up was accomplished by telephone questionnaire. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients were identified, of whom 17 (54.8%) had a diagnosis of Crohn disease. The diagnosis at presentation included unilateral (ischiorectal) abscess (32.3%), bilateral horseshoe abscess (51.6%), bilateral horseshoe fistula (9.7%), and postanal space abscess (6.4%). Endoanal ultrasonography was used during the preoperative evaluation in 11 patients (35.5%). After referral to our institution, patients underwent a median of four operations (range, 1 to 9). At a mean follow-up of 49.3 months, 60.7% of patients had either healed perineal disease or were asymptomatic with controlled disease. Patients who had a posterior midline sphincterotomy were more likely to be asymptomatic (P=.047). Patients who had a diagnosis of Crohn disease required more operations than those without Crohn disease (3 vs 1.86, P=.02). Only patients who had a diagnosis of Crohn disease had a stoma at their last follow-up (4 of 17, 23.5% vs 0 of 11, 0%; P=.05). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with horseshoe abscess or fistulae often require multiple operations for treatment but can expect reasonable rates of long-term success in controlling or curing their disease. Those who undergo posterior midline sphincterotomy seem to benefit with higher rates of improved symptoms. Patients with a diagnosis of Crohn disease may fare less well. The role of endoanal ultrasonography in directing therapy remains to be defined.

Abscess↗

Chronic encapsulated mediastinal abscess presenting with remote cutaneous fistulization 12 years after redo aortic valve replacement for prosthetic valve endocarditis.

Chronic encapsulated mediastinal abscess is an unusual complication of previous open heart surgery. We report on the case of a 79 year old male who presented with epigastric fistulization of an encapsulated anterior mediastinal abscess 12 years after a redo aortic valve replacement for prosthetic valve endocarditis. The encapsulated abscess and its complex branching tracts and the cutaneous fistula were excised completely except the thin longitudinal strip of the ascending aorta which formed part of the posterior wall of the infected tract. This was covered with transposed greater omentum based on right gastroepiploic artery pedicle. Patient remains fit and well 2 years after his operation. This report is unusual on account of the length of the interval between previous heart surgery and the infective complication, the presumed dormancy of the abscess for as long as 12 years, the complex course, branching tracts and the contents of the abscess, the remote fistulization of the abscess at a distant anatomical site and, finally, the principle of successfully covering an infected tract which formed the adventia of the ascending aorta with pedicled omentum in the hope of avoiding an ascending aortic replacement in a frail 79 year old man. In the entire English language literature, this report represents the longest interval between a heart operation and a sternal or mediastinal abscess.

Abscess↗

ABSCESS: applied bedside sonography for convenient evaluation of superficial soft tissue infections.

OBJECTIVES: Soft tissue infections are a common presenting complaint in the emergency department (ED). The authors sought to determine the utility of ED bedside ultrasonography (US) in detecting subcutaneous abscesses. METHODS: Between August 2003 and November 2004, a prospective, convenience sample of adult patients with a chief complaint suggestive of cellulitis and/or abscess was enrolled. US was performed by attending physicians or residents who had attended a 30-minute training session in soft tissue US. The treating physician recorded a yes/no assessment of whether he or she believed an abscess was present before and after the US examination. Incision and drainage (I + D) was the criterion standard when performed, while resolution on seven-day follow-up was the criterion standard when I + D was not performed. RESULTS: Sixty-four of 107 patients had I + D-proven abscess, 17 of 107 had negative I + D, and 26 of 107 improved with antibiotic therapy alone. The sensitivity of clinical examination for abscesses was 86% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 76% to 93%), and the specificity was 70% (95% CI = 55% to 82%). The positive predictive value was 81% (95% CI = 70% to 90%), and the negative predictive value was 77% (95% CI = 62% to 88%). The sensitivity of US for abscess was 98% (95% CI = 93% to 100%), and the specificity was 88% (95% CI = 76% to 96%). The positive predictive value was 93% (95% CI = 84% to 97%), and the negative predictive value was 97% (95% CI = 88% to 100%). Of 18 cases in which US disagreed with the clinical examination, US was correct in 17 (94% of cases with disagreement, chi(2) = 14.2, p = 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS: ED bedside US improves accuracy in detection of superficial abscesses.

Abscess↗

Trends in the management of bacterial brain abscesses: a review of 102 cases over 17 years.

The records of 102 patients with brain abscesses treated over 17 years were analyzed. In recent years, cardiac and pulmonary causes were less frequent, the abscesses were smaller, and fewer patients were in poor neurological condition. There has been no significant change in the type or number of infective organisms or in the number of abscesses during the study period. Computed tomographic brain scanning was the most important factor in reducing the mortality rate from 41% to 4%. The patients were grouped according to the treatment received: excision (n = 46), aspiration (n = 33), or nonsurgical therapy (n = 17). Patients treated nonsurgically were more likely to have smaller abscesses and multiple lesions than were patients in the other two groups. There were no significant differences in the morbidity or mortality rates between treatment groups. Patients whose abscesses were excised had a significantly shorter course of antibiotics than the other patients. Organisms were identified in 85% of the cultures from surgical specimens. The use of preoperative antibiotics was significantly associated with sterile cultures; 30% of patients who received antibiotics preoperatively had sterile cultures, compared with only 4% of patients who did not receive such treatment. The mortality rate among all treated patients (the diagnosis of brain abscess was missed in 6 patients before computed tomographic scanning became routine) was significantly related to the initial neurological grade and the size of the lesion but not to age, sex, or the number of abscesses. Four of the 8 treated patients who died had congenital cyanotic heart disease; an aggressive surgical approach is recommended for such patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

Continual intracavitary administration of amphotericin B as an adjunct in the treatment of aspergillus brain abscess: case report and review of the literature.

Aspergillus brain abscess is often a fatal disease, regardless of the mode of therapy. Most often seen in the compromised host, it is notoriously refractory to systemic antifungal agents and intrathecal antimycotics. Even with radical surgical debridement, only 13 patients, including the present case, have survived longer than 3 months after being treated for aspergillus brain abscess or granuloma. Studies have shown poor penetration of amphotericin B into the brain and cerebrospinal fluid. One way to achieve therapeutic levels of the agent near the abscess is through the direct introduction of the agent into the abscess site via an indwelling catheter. In the present case, a woman with an aspergillus abscess of the left temporal lobe was treated by a combination of systemic agents, radical debridement, and local therapy, resulting in a cure with a follow-up of 6 years. This is the first reported instance of the use of long-term, local antifungal therapy delivered to the area of the abscess cavity, using a closed reservoir system, and this patient is only the second renal transplant patient reported to have survived aspergillus brain abscess. This form of treatment produced no untoward long-term side effects or neurological sequelae. Local irrigation with antifungal agents should be considered in conjunction with systemic antifungal drugs and drainage and/or debridement in cases of fungal intracerebral aspergilloma. This technique may also prove useful with other fungal brain lesions.

Adult↗

Penetration of intravenous antibiotics into brain abscesses.

INTRA-ABSCESS CONCENTRATIONS OF the intravenously administered latamoxef (LMOX, moxalactam in the United States) and cefotetan (CTT), were studied in 11 patients with intracranial abscess. None of these patients underwent surgical ablation of the abscess. In all cases, the abscess was aspirated, and multiple aspirations were required in five patients. Antibiotic concentrations in 18 aspirates were, therefore, determined by the agar well method. LMOX concentrations in 16 aspirates drawn from nine brain abscess cases ranged from 0 to 10.9 micrograms/ml, with a mean (standard deviation) of 4.18 (3.04) micrograms/ml. The CTT concentration in one patient with a brain abscess was 8.51 micrograms/ml, and the LMOX concentration in the one remaining patient with subdural empyema was 5.20 micrograms/ml. In one patient, the serum-to-pus penetration rate of LMOX was estimated to be 0.11 against the peak value of the concentration in serum or 0.44 against the simultaneously obtained level in serum. Significantly higher concentrations of LMOX were produced in abscess cavities with multiple-dose administration or by prior drainage of pus. More-advanced stages of local inflammation, as demonstrated by computed tomography, correlated with higher concentrations. However, the routine indexes of systemic inflammation, such as body temperature, white blood cell count, and level of C-reactive protein in serum, cannot be used to predict the concentration present in intracerebral pus. A tendency for LMOX concentrations in pus obtained after single dose-administration to decrease with increasing duration from symptom onset to sampling was observed but was not statistically significant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Conservative neurosurgical management of intracranial epidural abscesses in children.

OBJECTIVE: Traditional management of epidural abscesses caused by sinusitis in children involves neurosurgical drainage. With better techniques to drain affected sinuses, to identify causative organisms, and to guide medical therapy, some pediatric epidural intracranial abscesses may be treated effectively with sinus drainage and antibiotics, without an intracranial procedure. METHODS: Charts and computed tomographic scans of children with isolated intracranial epidural abscess associated with sinusitis who were treated in a pediatric hospital were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Eight patients were treated between 1982 and 2002. All patients received antibiotic therapy appropriate to the causative organism(s). Four patients treated before mid-1997 had an intracranial procedure additionally (operative group, Group 1), and four patients treated thereafter did not (conservative group, Group 2). Abscesses had a mean size of 3 x 3 x 1 cm (length x width x depth) in both groups. All patients experienced clinical and radiographic resolution of the infection with treatment. In Group 1, neurosurgical management consisted of burr hole drainage in two patients and craniotomy in two patients. Extranasal otorhinolaryngological procedures for sinus drainage were performed in two patients. In Group 2, endonasal procedures were used in three patients for paranasal sinus infections to effect drainage and obtain specimens for culture. A radical mastoidectomy was required in the single patient with mastoiditis. Although two of four patients initially demonstrated transient worsening of headaches, all patients subsequently improved rapidly after the first week of treatment. Computed tomographic follow-up revealed minimal or no enlargement of the abscess or mass effect at 1 week, decrease or stable size at 2 weeks, and resolution by 6 weeks. CONCLUSION: Sinus-related intracranial epidural abscesses in children may be managed without neurosurgical procedures in the setting of adequate sinus drainage, appropriate antibiotic therapy, and minimal extradural mass effect from the abscess. Symptomatic worsening without significant increase in mass effect during the first week of therapy is not necessarily an indication for an intracranial drainage procedure.

Adolescent↗

Corticosteroids and peritonsillar abscess formation in infectious mononucleosis.

Peritonsillar abscess formation is an uncommon complication of infectious mononucleosis (IM). Early case reports implicated corticosteroids in the development of such abscesses, however, subsequent studies suggested that these drugs do not promote the formation of abscesses at several sites outside the central nervous system. It has recently been demonstrated that zwitterionic polysaccharides, in bacterial capsules, form complexes with CD4(+) T lymphocytes leading to abscess formation. A patient is presented who developed peritonsillar abscess a few days after initiation of corticosteroid therapy for IM; the medical literature was reviewed in respect of this subject. It appears that the occurrence of these abscesses in IM is not strongly linked to corticosteroid treatment. The authors, therefore, recommend that steroids should not be withheld from patients with severe IM on the basis that they may precipitate the development of peritonsillar abscess.

Administration, Oral↗