ABSCESS OF THE BRAIN: RELATION OF THE HISTOLOGIC TO THE CLINICAL FEATURES

Abstract

The formation of an abscess of the brain is so intimately associated with its treatment that the study of the one must inevitably shed light on the other. The reason for this intimate relation of the histologic picture to the treatment lies in the fact that in abscesses of the brain, as in abscesses elsewhere in the body, the most important problem which the surgeon has to solve is when to operate. Shall operation be performed during the acute stages of the illness, when there is much prostration and severe systemic reactions are present, or shall it be delayed until there is evidence of encapsulation of the abscess? The answer to this question in recent times has been almost invariably to delay operation in most cases until encapsulation has been known to occur. This has come to be the surgeon's rule of thumb in the majority of cases of abcess