[Intracranial collections of pus. A review of 100 cases].

Introduction: In recent decades, important scientific advances have been made, leading to modification of the diagnosis and the treatment of intracranial collections of pus (ICP).

Objectives: To analyze the changes in various clinicopathological aspects of ICP during the twenty years studied.

Patients And Methods: We present a retrospective analysis of 100 cases of ICP diagnosed between 1979 and 1998 in the Hospital General de Galicia. We divided the patients into two groups: A (1979-1988) and B (1989-1998), and analyzed the similarities and differences between them.

Results: In these two decades, there was a predominance of men over women (4/1) ENT infections (30/100) and surgical-trauma (25/100) were the commonest causes. The diagnosis was established during the week the symptoms started in 40% of group A and 58.1% of group B. The most frequent site for abscesses was in the frontal lobes (28.5%) and temporal lobes (26.1%) and was closely related to the origin of the infection. Culture was positive in 45% of group A and in 60.3% of group B. The commonest micro-organisms found were Streptococcus (38%) and Staphylococcus (26%). More anaerobes were observed in the second decade. The most usual surgical treatment was excision (86%). Mortality was 33.3% in the first decade and 5.4% in the second.

Conclusion: Technological improvements permit earlier, more reliable radiological and micro-biological diagnosis as well as lower morbi-mortality figures for ICP.