Pediatric brain abscess
A review of the literature was performed through a PubMed search of original articles, case reports, and reviews using the keywords “brain abscess,” “cerebral abscess,” “brain infection,” “intracranial suppuration,” “otogenic brain abscess,” “otitis complications,” and “sinusitis complications.”
Results: Pediatric brain abscess is a rare but serious infection, often involving patients with specific risk factors and burdened by a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Brain abscess incidence and mortality decreased over the years, thanks to improved antibiotic therapy, new neurosurgical techniques, and the wide spread of vaccinations. There are no guidelines for the adequate diagnostic-therapeutic pathway in the management of brain abscesses; therefore, conflicting data emerge from the literature. In the future, multicentric prospective studies should be performed to obtain stronger evidence about brain abscess management. Over the next few years, changes in epidemiology could be observed because of risk factors changes 1)
Case reports
A case of a 7-year-old child with a recent chickenpox infection, who presented with headache and left hemiparesis and was diagnosed with a large, deep-seated right-sided CCM with concurrent infection caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, an organism which itself is an extremely rare cause of brain abscess and may be a complication of recent chickenpox infection. The patient underwent surgical aspiration of the infected collection, completed a prolonged course of antibiotic therapy, and made a good clinical recovery. Based on our review of the literature, this case represents the first reported case of Strep. pyogenes as a cause of infected CCM and only the second in a patient aged under 16 years 2)