Metastatic abcesses of the brain : a clinical study / by Harry L. Parker.

  • Parker, Harry L.
Date:
[1930?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Metastatic abcesses of the brain : a clinical study / by Harry L. Parker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    \ cerebral tumor since the original infection is much in the back¬ ground, almost forgotten, and indicates little in the way of etiology until observations at operation or necropsy lead to a review in retro¬ spect of the whole case. Summary and Conclusions. Twenty cases of metastatic abscess of the brain were studied clinically. The diagnosis had been estab¬ lished either by necropsy or surgical exploration. For convenience the cases were classified in three groups. In Group 1 were 3 cases in which the abscesses were secondary to an overwhelming or progressive general septic process; in Group 2 were 14 cases secondary to pulmonary or pleural suppuration, and in Group 3 were 3 cases secondary to an original septic process that had apparently healed but the signs of cerebral suppuration had appeared later and progressed to menace the life of the patient. The prognosis depends entirely on the severity and progress of the original infection. In Group 1 the condition was hopeless. In Group 2 it was grave, but in some of the cases might have been modified by operation. In Group 3 surgical treatment at a favor¬ able time was possible and the outcome favorable. The course of metastatic abscesses of pleural or pulmonary origin was much shorter than that of abscesses due to other causes. This no doubt depended largely on the debility of the patient. The clin¬ ical signs and symptoms, however, differed little. The severity of the original infection added a complicating feature, often making the diagnosis extremely difficult. In 10 of the 20 cases a single abscess was situated in one or the other lobe of the cerebrum. In many of these a certain degree of encapsulation was present but rupture into the ventricle neverthe¬ less occurred readily. In the other 10 cases the brain was the seat of multiple foci of suppuration. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 1. Ballance, C.: Quoted by Oppenheim. 2. Barling, S.: A Case of Cerebral Abscess Complicating Abscess of Lung; Operation and Recovery, Lancet, 1917, i, 121. 3. Eagleton, W. P.: Brain Abscess, New York, Macmillan Company, 1922, p. 68. 4. Gardner, W. J.: Metastatic Abscesses of the Brain of Pulmonary Origin: a Report of 2 Cases, Arch. Neurol, and Psychiat., 1928, 19, 904. 5. Gowers, W. R.: Diseases of the Nervous System, Philadelphia, P. Blakiston’s Son & Co., 1888, pp. 851. 6. Groth, W.: Quoted by Eagleton. 7. Hurst, A. F.: A Case of Cerebral Abscess Complicating Empyema; Opera¬ tion and Recovery, Lancet, 1925, i, 605. 8. Oppenheim, H.: Textbook of Nervous Diseases, Edinburgh, T. N. Foulis, 1911, 2, 856. 9. Roulland, H.: Abc&s metastatique du cerveau au cours d’une suppuration pleurale; trepanation, drainage de l’abcfes, guerison, Paris chir., 1917, 9, 613. 10. Schorstein, G. I.: Abscess of the Brain in Association with Pulmonary Dis¬ ease, Lancet, 1909, 18, 843. 11. Sperling: Quoted by Eagleton.