Spontaneous tension pneumocephalus in a patient with subdural empyema

Redhu, Rakesh; Shah, Abhidha; Jadhav, Madan; Goel, Atul

doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2010.12.029

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Even though that the number of cases reporting pneumocephalus due to gas forming bacteria is scanty, all previously published studies of gas forming bacteria causing pneumocephalus were after a number of infections like subdural empyema, meningitis, pneumonia, or gastroenteritis [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] . Interestingly, after a thorough literature search in different databases, there have been no published cases reporting pneumocephalus occurring due to gas forming bacteria originating from a post-operative spinal wound infection as in our case.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pneumocephalus secondary to a spinal surgery: A literature review and a case report

Abu-Hamdiyah

Sharie

Awadi

et al. 2021

International Journal of Surgery Case Reports

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Introduction We report a case of pneumocephalus, which is identified as the presence of air in the cranial cavity and is a rare complication after spinal surgeries, in addition to a literature review of similarly reported cases. Case presentation The patient is a 63-year-old male who developed pneumocephalus after undergoing a minimally invasive left side decompression at L3-L4 with left L4 foraminotomy even though there were no signs of dural tears or Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) leaks. After the diagnosis of pneumocephalus using brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), the patient was treated conservatively and was discharged after 3 weeks without developing further complications. Discussion Pneumocephalus is defined as an abnormal accumulation of air within the cranial cavity. It can occur due to a variety of causes but rarely due to gas forming bacteria. Many theories are suggested concerning the pathophysiology of pneumocephalus, the inverted bottle theory, the ball valve theory, the Nitrous Oxide (N 2 O) theory, and as we outweigh in our case, gas forming bacteria theory. Pneumocephalus can be treated surgically, nevertheless, conservative management methods of such cases are usually followed. Conclusion The aim of this study is to draw further attention to the management and diagnosis of such surgical complication. A more extended research is needed to provide a full comprehensive approach to deal with this problem if faced in the future. To the best of our knowledge, this study reports the first pneumocephalus case induced by a postoperative bacterial infection in the global English based medical literature.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pneumocephalus secondary to a spinal surgery: A literature review and a case report

Abu-Hamdiyah

Sharie

Awadi

et al. 2021

International Journal of Surgery Case Reports

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“…Basically, E. coli and Group B Streptococcus are known to be common causative bacteria of neonatal meningitis [3]. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, only nine adults with E. coli intracranial abscesses, including brain abscesses or subdural empyema, have been reported in the past 20 years (Table 1) [4-12]. Additionally, only two cases of E. coli brain abscess have been reported [6,9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, eight of the nine reported cases involved older men, implying that age and sex may be potent risk factors. Six patients died within 1 month after diagnosis [4-6,8,10,12]. In five cases, extracranial infection had been recognized prior to the onset, suggesting that the hematogenous spread of E. coli might be a pivotal cause of intracranial abscess formation [4,5,7,9,11].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secondary brain abscess following simple renal cyst infection: a case report

et al. 2014

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BackgroundEscherichia coli (E. coli) is the most common causative bacteria of neonatal meningitis, but hematogenous intracranial E. coli infection is rare in adults. Moreover, intracranial abscess formation owing to E. coli, including brain abscesses and subdural empyema formation, is extremely rare. We herein present a case involving a patient with a brain abscess owing to E. coli following a simple renal cyst infection. A review of the literature is also presented.Case presentationA 77-year-old Japanese woman with a history of polymyalgia rheumatica was admitted to our hospital because of persistent fever, right flank pain, and pyuria. Intravenous antibiotics were administered; however, her level of consciousness deteriorated 6 days after admission. Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging showed a brain abscess in the left occipital lobe and pyogenic ventriculitis. Enhanced abdominal computed tomography revealed a right renal cyst with heterogeneous content. Culture of urine, blood, and aspirated pus from the infected cyst revealed E. coli with identical antibiotic sensitivity in all sites, suggesting that the cyst infection and subsequent bacteremia might have caused the brain abscess. The patient recovered after a 6-week course of meropenem.ConclusionThe prognosis of patients with E. coli-associated intracranial abscess is usually poor. Advanced age and immunosuppression may be potent risk factors for intracranial abscess formation owing to the hematogenous spread of E. coli.

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Epidural Abscess and Subdural Empyema

Hsu

Steinbok

2022

Pediatric Neurosurgery for Clinicians

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Spontaneous tension pneumocephalus in a patient with subdural empyema

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

Pneumocephalus secondary to a spinal surgery: A literature review and a case report

Pneumocephalus secondary to a spinal surgery: A literature review and a case report

Secondary brain abscess following simple renal cyst infection: a case report

Epidural Abscess and Subdural Empyema

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