(DOI: 10.
3171/FOC/2008/24/6/E1)
Brain Abscess
H. RICHARD WINN, M.D.
Department of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience, Mount Sinai School of Medicine,
New York, New York
T
HIS issue of Neurosurgical Focus concentrates on
brain abscess, a disease that remains a diagnostic
and therapeutic challenge to neurosurgeons even as
we enter the 21st century. With the introduction of antibi-
otics in the mid-20th century, some may have predicted that
brain abscesses would become rare or even eradicated.
However, whether the patient lives in Nepal or New York,
brain abscesses remain a threat to the central nervous sys-
tem. Variations in the microbiological features, cause, and
incidence occur globally. Classic bacterial infections are
evident in both the adult and pediatric populations, where-
Neurosurg. Focus / Volume 24 / June 2008
Neurosurg Focus 24 (6):E1, 2008
as altered immune status, due to the presence of HIV or
treatment with chemotherapy, has resulted in the upsurge of
previously infrequent causes of these lesions. This chang-
ing nature of the disease presents a therapeutic challenge to
neurosurgeons irrespective of their practice location. In this
volume of Neurosurgical Focus, topics range from routine
disorders to the philosophical and pathophysiological basis
of brain infection. These articles should provide to the read-
er a better understanding of the present nature of an old
scourge: brain abscess.
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