Brain abscess due to ear infection

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Le Van Quang - Ear, Nose Throat Doctor - Department of General Surgery - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital. BSCKI. Le Van Quang is an expert in the field of ENT with 15 years of experience.

Brain abscess caused by ear infection is a rare disease but has a high mortality rate. If not treated promptly, it is likely to leave severe sequelae for the patient. Therefore, actively seeking knowledge related to this disease is very necessary.

1. Why does ear infection cause brain abscess?

In developed countries, there is almost no situation of patients with brain abscess due to the ear. However, in developing countries, including Vietnam, the rate of patients with brain abscess due to ear is still high, accounting for 40-50% of cases.
Ear infections can cause complications in the brain because the brain organization is very close to the ear, there are places where the meninges are only 1mm thick from the ear by the bone wall, even in some places only 0.5mm.
Infection from the lining of the ear, mastoid goes through the way of osteomyelitis, the bone is destroyed, passes through the blood vessels of the clefts to the dura mater, causing brain damage, including brain abscess.
Infections from the ear follow the blood route to the brain. Common dangerous complications caused by ear infections include: brain abscess, meningitis and phlebitis due to the ear.

3. Signs of brain abscess due to ear infection

In the early stages, the most common sign of a patient with a brain abscess due to an ear infection is a mild to severe headache, which lasts for a long time. At this stage, patients often do not notice due to very few symptoms of the disease.
As brain abscess progresses, clinical manifestations focus on the following 3 major syndromes:
Intracranial hypertension syndrome:
Headache, becoming increasingly severe, may be localized pain on one side Or just pain in the occipital region. The patient sometimes hits the head with his hand. Mental sluggishness, stagnation, babbling, unwillingness to interact with others The pulse is irregular, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, edema of the eyes, may have papilloedema. eyes on one or both sides Vomiting Unsteady gait due to dizziness Infection syndrome
Fever High white blood cell count in the presence of high fever Rapid weight loss Focal neurologic syndrome: Usually occurs late due to brain abscess causes
contralateral hemiplegia, ophthalmomotor paralysis, partial or total convulsions, aphasia In patients with cerebellar abscess: Unsteady, frequent falls, hand tremors when moving, excessive confused, confused, nauseous, difficult to swallow...

If not diagnosed and treated promptly, the rate of patients dying from ear infections causing brain abscess is high. Therefore, when patients see any signs of ear infection, especially purulent ear infection, purulent ear infection, they should immediately go to a medical facility for timely diagnosis and treatment, to avoid dangerous complications. danger, such as a brain abscess.

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