Brain Abscess

A brain abscess is a life-threatening and rare infection of the brain. Infectious agents like fungi, viruses, or bacteria penetrate brain tissue and a pus-filled swelling develops. Symptoms may vary depending on which part of brain gets affected, but the most common symptoms include fever, confusion, headache, paralysis on one either the right or the left side of body.

Symptoms

Based on individual situations, symptoms of brain abscess develop either fast or slow. Common symptoms are:
Headache.
Mental status changes like irritability or confusion.
Nerve function problems like muscle paralysis or muscle weakness or garbled speech.
Seizures.
Fever.
Stiff neck.
Vomiting and nausea.
Vision changes like greying in vision, blurring, or double vision.

Any symptom that suggests a problem with the nervous system and brain is a medical emergency and should be treated immediately. Symptoms like fever or vomiting suggest an aggravating fever and your general practitioner should be contacted immediately.

Diagnosis Of A Brain Abscess

Initial assessment is made based on the physical symptoms along with medical history like a recent infection or a weak immune system.
Blood tests are done to check for infection. A high count of white blood cells in the blood indicates a severe infection.
A MRI or a CT scan also helps in diagnosing a brain abscess.
A neurologist (a doctor specializing in nervous system and brain) could also with the help of a CT scan, guide a needle directly to the abscess site and take a sample of pus for testing. This is called CT-guided aspiration. The pus sample will indicate the kind of infection that is the cause of the abscess.

Treatment Of A Brain Abscess

Treatment of an abscess depends on the size of the abscess present in the brain.

A small one that is less than 2.5 cm (0.98 inches) is treated with antibiotics, anti-fungal or antiviral mediation directly introduced into the vein.

If the brain abscess is larger than 2.5 cm, it is essential to aspirate the pus out or cut or excise the abscess out from the healthy tissue.

For multiple abscesses, it is very risky to cut them out, so aspiration would be the choice.

Intravenous medication in conjunction with surgery is used to speed up the recovery process.

Recovery From The Brain Abscess

Once the abscess is treated, you will have to spend many weeks in the hospital till you recover from the effects of the abscess of the brain. Most people require approximately six to twelve weeks of rest before being fit enough to get back to work or daily activities.

Complications Of An Abscess

Brain abscess survivors may have some damage to the brain. This could lead to epilepsy or impairment of speech or movement or thought. In a few cases, particularly concerning children, brain abscesses can sometimes develop into severe infections which attack the protective membrane that surrounds the brain. This is a life-threatening infection and is called meningitis.