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Cerebral abscess

Case contributed by Henry Knipe
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Two day history of headaches and one day history of expressive dysphasia

Patient Data

Age: 30 years
Gender: Male
ct

Ring-enhancing left frontal lobe lesion with surrounding vasogenic edema. Mild rightward midline shift. Internally, there appears to be a fluid-fluid level at the superior aspect. 

mri

Ring-enhancing left frontal lobe lesion with surrounding vasogenic edema. T2 hypointense rim and internal diffusion restriction. 

Case Discussion

Imaging features on CT are non-specific with a wide differential but are typical for cerebral abscess on MRI. The patient proceeded to theater for drainage where Streptococcus intermedius was cultured from a sample taken. 

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