16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about diagnostis of Brain abscess.
A history of infection — especially of the middle ear, mastoid, nasal sinuses, heart, or lungs — or a history of congenital heart disease, along with a physical examination showing such characteristic indications as increased intracranial pressure (ICP), points to a brain abscess. An enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan and, occasionally, arteriography (which highlights the abscess by a halo) help locate the site.
Examination of cerebrospinal fluid can help confirm infection, but lumbar puncture is too risky because it can release the increased ICP and provoke cerebral herniation. A CT-guided stereotactic biopsy may be performed to drain and culture the abscess. Other tests include culture and sensitivity of drainage to identify the causative organism, skull X-rays, and a radioisotope scan.
Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003
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