Infratentorial empyema is a life threatening condition and constitutes a neurosurgical emergency. Purulent mastoiditis and medial otitis is the most common origin and a thorough eradication of the purulent foci is mandatory. Decompression craniectomy has been primarily advised in the literature as the gold standard of the surgical treatment but burr hole evacuation when there the lack of cerebellar edema is less invasive and deemed equally efficient in the few reported cases. This is the report of a seventeen year old female who presented in a comatose state due to infratentorial empyema with acute hydrocephalus and who improved immediately after burr hole evacuation. Details of the surgical procedures are given. Mastoidectomy was completed, with the patient under combined antibiotherapy. She leads a normal life now, more than six years after surgery.

Background: Acute gastroenteritis remains a common cause of hospital emergency room visits in Albania. However, the aetiology of severe gastroenteritis leading to hospitalization in adults frequently remains unclear. Aims: Our objective was to study the epidemiology and causes of community-acquired, acute gastroenteritis in adult patients presenting to hospital. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Methods: A prospective study was conducted from January 2010 to January 2012, among patients ≥15 years old with community-acquired gastroenteritis presenting to the emergency room of the University Hospital "Mother Theresa" in Tirana, Albania. Stool samples and rectal swabs were collected from the patients for microbiological testing. Results: The median age of the study patients was 33 (15-88) years and 577 (58%) were females. The median age of males was 35 (15-87)

Background: Hearing Loss (HL), which affects disproportionally children in low income countries, is increasing worldwide. HL could be associated with a range of speech, language and cognitive problems in children. In Albania the information about this condition is largely outdated. In this context, the aim of this paper was to assess the prevalence of HL among first grade school children in Tirana, the capital city of Albania.

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Background: Hearing impairment (HI), a condition that affects disproportionally children in developing countries, could negatively impact the development of communications skills of involved children when not timely detected and treated. Aims:We aimed to assess the prevalence of HI and the factors and health conditions associated with it, among preschool children in Albania. Study design:Cross-sectional survey.Methods: During November 2009-May 2011 a simple random sample of 400 preschool children aged 4-6 years old and attending public kindergartens in urban and rural areas of Tirana, the capital of Albania were examined about hearing ability via tonal audiometry and tympanometry. HI was defined by a threshold of ≥ 20 dB in the better ear. In addition, objective examination of ear, nose and pharynx was carried out in order to detect potential structures and/or diseases contributing to HI. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the factors associated with HI in this sample of preschool children. Results:In this sample of children (51% females, 73.5% urban residence) the total prevalence of HI was 16%. Otitis Media with effusion, suppurative otitis media and past otitis media was present in 14.6%, 1% and 13.1% of cases, respectively. Upon adjustment for several confounding effects, the only factors significantly associated with HI were current otitis media in objective examination (OR=5.62; 95% CI: 2.18-14.4) and recurrent otitis media in anamnesis (OR=1.82; 95% CI: 1.33-2.51).Conclusions: HI is a common and serious condition that might negatively affects the future development of preschool children. Routine screening of newborn and/or preschool children is an effective way to address this problem in Albania.