Subdural empyema etiology
It is a rare complication of bacterial meningitis, 1) more common caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae 2).
Bacterial or occasionally fungal infection of the skull bones or air sinuses can spread to the subdural space, producing a subdural empyema.
The infection of a subdural hematoma is an unusual cause of subdural empyema with fewer than 50 cases reported till 2015 3).
Following the evacuation of a chronic subdural hematoma
Subdural empyema following cranioplasty
1)
Dakkak M, Cullinane WR Jr, Ramoutar VR. Subdural Empyema Complicating Bacterial Meningitis: A Challenging Diagnosis in a Patient with Polysubstance Abuse. Case Rep Med. 2015;2015:931819. doi: 10.1155/2015/931819. Epub 2015 Oct 12. PubMed PMID: 26543484; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4620381.
2)
Jim KK, Brouwer MC, van der Ende A, van de Beek D. Subdural empyema in
bacterial meningitis. Neurology. 2012 Nov 20;79(21):2133-9. doi:
10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182752d0e. Epub 2012 Nov 7. PubMed PMID: 23136260.
3)
Dabdoub CB, Adorno JO, Urbano J, Silveira EN, Orlandi BM. Review of the
Management of Infected Subdural Hematoma. World Neurosurg. 2015 Nov 13. pii:
S1878-8750(15)01532-6. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2015.11.015. [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed PMID: 26585725.