Otogenic intracranial complications.
The ear has been recognized as a source of intracranial infection at least since the time of Hippocrates. Not much progress was achieved in the diagnosis and treatment of intracranial sepsis until the latter part of the 19th century when surgeons such as McEwan began a direct surgical attack on brain abscesses. While the advent of the antibiotics in the 1940's and 1950's made a significant reduction in the mortality of meningitis, the surgical treatment of brain abscess has not altered much since then. Newer diagnostic methods such as the CTT scan should help to reduce mortality rates which even recently have varied from 7-40 per cent for brain abscesses.
D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply; D001922:Brain Abscess / Q000209:etiology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D004432:Ear, Middle; D006407:Hematoma, Epidural, Cranial / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000209:etiology; D008581:Meningitis / Q000209:etiology; D013924:Thrombophlebitis / Q000209:etiology