Cerebral abscesses of unknown origin. General report.

The authors present the etio-pathogenic, anatomo-pathological, clinical, and therapeutic aspects of cerebral abscesses of unknown origin. Prognostic and neuropsychical problems are also outlined, which may be related to performance of surgical interventions. A personal series of 108 cases is presented in detail. Cerebral abscesses of unknown origin represent 13.3% of a total of 810 cerebral abscesses hospitalized in the Neurosurgical Clinic from Bucharest between 1936 and 1979. The significant number of this type of cerebral suppuration is stressed, and the authors discuss the diagnostic and the therapeutic difficulties of this affection. On the other hand the authors mention the high number of postoperative neuropsychical sequellae (70%). The overall mortality rate of the group was 29.7%.