title: Intracerebral infections as a complication of deep brain stimulation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intracerebral infections after deep brain stimulation (DBS) are rare. The published material is limited to 2 case reports. A review of 20 publications of 3,818 patients focusing on complications of DBS did not reveal one single case. For that reason, we decided to present our own experience of 4 patients with this complication.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyze and present our material regarding intracerebral infections after DBS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four patients with intracerebral infection after DBS were retrospectively analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 4 patients exhibited signs of intracerebral infection 2-14 days after DBS for Parkinson's disease. CT and MRI verified signs of possible cerebral involvement. In 3 patients, positive cultures were obtained from the extracted electrodes. All patients recovered completely following treatment with antibiotics and removal of the implanted hardware. Two of the patients were later re-implanted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intracerebral infection is a rare complication of DBS. It does, however, occur occasionally and should be taken into consideration when evaluating the risks of DBS.
authors.affiliation: Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Neuroscience, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. patric.blomstedt@neuro.umu.se
authors.forename: Patric
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blomstedt
authors.forename: Hjalmar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bjartmarz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D020806:Central Nervous System Bacterial Infections / Q000209:etiology*; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies