(Jrt)
Brain abscess
The brain abscess is a mass of pus inside the brain.
The pus has formed in response to an infection occurred nearby (sinuses, teeth, ears ...), heart disease, a pneumonia or an infection following surgery. The latter case has become rare in countries where patients receive a dose prophylactic antibiotics to prevent any risk of infection.
Causes
The brain is usually protected from infection because it is very well to defend himself, plus it is separated from the general circulation by the blood brain barrier, blocking many substances. That is why the origin of infection is often in another part of the body. The infection then spreads through blood or tissue. Once the infection arrived in brain, it develops and form an abscess.
Symptoms
There are two types of brain abscess at the level of symptoms. Either the abscess settled without the patient is obvious, or sometimes brutally, it said that the abscess is Fulminant. The main symptoms are an increase in tension inside the skull that causes nausea and vomiting, elevated body temperature, the headaches, seizures, drowsiness, convulsions, ... And in some cases paralysis of one of the two parts of the body, and any reduction in capacity.
Treatment
The patient is treated with antibiotics. If the abscess is not absorbed alone, surgery can be performed. It is to make a hole in the patient's head and suck the contents of the abscess. If this method does not work, we must open the patient's skull and remove the abscess in full. This last method involves risk because if the surgeon damaged an area of the brain, the patient may remain paralyzed.
Read also
wikipedia
