Large pontine tubercular abscess treated surgically.
Tuberculosis of the central nervous system (CNS) is a life threatening condition with 50% mortality in advanced disease and serious neurological deficits in those who survive. Tuberculous abscess is a rare manifestation of CNS tuberculosis, brainstem involvement being even rarer. The management of these conditions poses a great challenge to the treating physician. We report a case of large tubercular abscess of pons which increased in size on anti-tubercular treatment, but showed excellent improvement following craniotomy and aspiration.
Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Hitesh K
HK
Gurjar
Shejoy P
SP
Joshua
Deepak
D
Agrawal
Ashok K
AK
Mahapatra
D000293:Adolescent; D001922:Brain Abscess / Q000601:surgery*; D001933:Brain Stem; D003399:Craniotomy / Q000379:methods*; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011149:Pons; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016862:Tuberculoma, Intracranial / Q000601:surgery*