CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg 2020; 15(03): 781-785
DOI: 10.4103/ajns.AJNS_51_20
Case Report

Asymptomatic brain abscess following decompressive craniotomy for stroke – A report of two cases and review of the literature

Raja Kutty
Department of Neurosurgery, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
,
Sunilkumar Sreemathyamma
Department of Neurosurgery, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
,
Jyothish Sivanandapanicker
Department of Neurosurgery, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
,
Abhishek Vijayan
Department of Neurosurgery, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
,
Prasanth Asher
Department of Neurosurgery, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
,
Anilkumar Peethambaran
Department of Neurosurgery, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
› Author Affiliations

Stroke is a significant health problem in both developed and developing nations. The treatment strategies of stroke differ among various centers depending on the available expertise. Nevertheless, stroke contributes to a major economic burden for patients and health institutions. The recovery period after stroke is a critical period wherein various complications can develop in survivors. Among these multiple complications, the formation of brain abscess in the infarcted brain tissue is rare and less well described in the literature. Fever or signs of raised intracranial pressure are the usual manifestation of poststroke brain abscess. We present two unique cases of large brain abscess in patients who survived a malignant stroke. Both the patients were recuperating well after decompressive craniectomy for stroke without any signs of intracranial infection or raised intracranial pressure. Both the patients underwent open drainage of brain abscess, followed by delayed cranioplasty. There are only a few cases of brain abscess reported in the literature in patients who underwent decompressive craniectomy for stroke.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.




Publication History

Received: 09 February 2020

Accepted: 29 April 2020

Article published online:
16 August 2022

© 2020. Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India

 
  • References

  • 1 Kamalakannan S, Gudlavaleti SV, Gudlavaleti MS, Goenka S, Kuper H. Incidence and prevalence of Stroke in India: A systemic review. Indian J Med Res 2017;146:175-85.
  • 2 Back L, Nagaraja V, Kapur A, Eslick GD. Role of decompressive hemicraniectomy in extensive middle cerebral artery strokes: A meta-analysis of randomised trials. Intern Med J 2015;45:711-7.
  • 3 Amonn F, Müller U. Brain abscess – A possible complication of cerebral infarction? Schweiz Med Wochenschr 1984;114:58-62.
  • 4 Ichimi K, Ishiguri H, Kida Y, Kinomoto T. Brain abscess following cerebral infarction: A case report. No Shinkei Geka 1989;17:381-5.
  • 5 Arentoft H, Schønheyder H, Schønemann NK. Cerebral Salmonella typhimurium abscess in a patient with a stroke. Infection 1993;21:251-3.
  • 6 Chen ST, Tang LM, Ro LS. Brain abscess as a complication of stroke. Stroke 1995;26:696-8.
  • 7 Davenport RJ, Gibson R, Mumford CJ, Will RG. Brain abscess complicating ischemic stroke. Stroke 1995;26:1501-3.
  • 8 Shintani S, Tsuruoka S, Koumo Y, Shiigai T. Sudden “stroke-like' onset of homonymous hemianopsia due to bacterial brain abscess. J Neurol Sci 1996;143:190-4.
  • 9 Beloosesky Y, Streifler JY, Eynan N, Grinblat J. Brain abscess complicating cerebral infarct. Age Ageing 2002;31:477-80.
  • 10 Miyazaki H, Ito S, Nitta Y, Iino N, Shiokawa Y. Brain abscess following cerebral infarction. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2004;146:531-2.
  • 11 Kaplan M, Ozveren MF, Erol FS, Kaplan S, Bilge T. Brain abscess developing at the site of preceding Stroke – Report of three cases: Review of literature. Neurosurg Q 2005;15:17-20.
  • 12 Emmez H, Börcek AO, Doǧulu F, Ceviker N. Ischemic stroke complicated by a brain abscess: A case report and review of the literature. Turk Neurosurg 2007;17:48-54.
  • 13 Kraemer JL, Worm PV, Faria MD, Maulaz A. Brain abscess following ischemic stroke with secondary haemorrhage. Arq NeuroPsiquiatr 2008;66:104-6.
  • 14 Jung SH. Brain abscess developed on the lesion site of previous ischemic stroke. J Korean Neurol Assoc 2010;28:33-5.
  • 15 Yamanaka K, Ishihara M, Nakajima S, Yamasaki M, Yoshimine T. Brain abscess following intra-arterial thrombolytic treatment for acute brain ischemia. J Clin Neurosci 2011;18:968-70.
  • 16 Albrecht P, Stettner M, Husseini L, Macht S, Jander S, Mackenzie C, et al. An emboligenic pulmonary abscess leading to ischemic stroke and secondary brain abscess. BMC Neurol 2012;12:133.
  • 17 García-Cid N, Pérez-Rodríguez MT, Argibay-Filgueira A, Martínez-Vázquez C. Absceso cerebral sobre infarto isquémico previo. Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin 2014;32:60-1.
  • 18 Wang J, Fraser JF. An Intracranial Petri Dish? Formation of Abscess in Prior Large Stroke After Decompressive Hemicraniectomy. World Neurosurg 2015;84:1495.e5-9.
  • 19 Noro F, de Melo AS, dos Santos Marchiori E. Brain infarct and abscess – A very common disease and a rare association. World Neurosurg 2016;93:476.
  • 20 Guenego A, Rafiq M, Michelozzi C, Januel AC, Albucher JF, Sol JC, et al. Secondary cerebral abscess of an ischemic stroke treated by thrombectomy. J Neuroradiol 2017;44:403-6.
  • 21 Ramesh R, Wenderoth J, Katrak P. Intracerebral abscess as a delayed sequela of ischemic stroke: Case report and brief review of the literature. J Neurol Disord Stroke 2017;5:1118.
  • 22 Longatti P, Perin A, Ettorre F, Fiorindi A, Baratto V. Endoscopic treatment of brain abscesses. Childs Nerv Syst 2006;22:1447-50.
  • 23 Yu X, Liu R, Wang Y, Zhao H, Chen J, Zhang J, et al. CONSORT: May stereotactic intracavity administration of antibiotics shorten the course of systemic antibiotic therapy for brain abscesses? Medicine (Baltimore) 2017;96:e6359.
  • 24 Hellwig D, Bauer BL, Dauch WA. Endoscopic stereotactic treatment of brain abscesses. Acta Neurochir Suppl 1994;61:102-5.
  • 25 Menon S, Bharadwaj R, Chowdhary A, Kaundinya DV, Palande DA. Current epidemiology of intracranial abscesses: A prospective 5 year study. J Med Microbiol 2008;57:1259-68.
  • 26 Ay S, Tur BS, Kutlay S. Cerebral infarct due to meningovascular neurobrucellosis: A case report. Int J Infect Dis 2010;14 Suppl 3:e202-4.
  • 27 Gul HC, Erdem H, Bek S. Overview of neurobrucellosis: A pooled analysis of 187 cases. Int J Infect Dis 2009;13:e339-43.
  • 28 Gündeş S, Erdenliǧ S, Meriç M, Koç K, Willke A. A case of intracranial abscess due to Brucella melitensis [4]. Int J Infect Dis 2004;8:379-81.
  • 29 Rajchanuwong C, Baiocchi P, Berardelli A, Venditti M, Pietro M. A case of brain abscess due to bruceila melitensis. Clin Infect Dis 1994;19:977-8.
  • 30 Demiroǧlu YZ, Turunç T, Karaca S, Arlıer Z, Alışkan H, Colakoǧlu S, et al. Neurological involvement in brucellosis; clinical classification, treatment and results. Mikrobiyol Bul. 2011;45:401-10.
  • 31 Chamorro A, Urra X, Planas AM. Infection after acute ischemic stroke: A manifestation of brain-induced immunodepression. Stroke 2007;38:1097-103.
  • 32 Kamel H, Iadecola C. Brain-immune interactions and ischemic stroke: Clinical implications. Arch Neurol 2012;69:576-81.
  • 33 Shim R, Wong CH. Ischemia, immunosuppression and infection – Tackling the predicaments of post-stroke complications. Int J Mol Sci 2016;17. pii: E64.