Stereotactic Drainage of Brainstem Abscess With the BrainLab Varioguide™ System and the Airo™ Intraoperative CT Scanner: Technical Case Report.

BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Stereotactic biopsies or needle aspirations of posterior fossa lesions are technically challenging. Here we report a novel technique for performing these procedures employing the Airo™ intraoperative computed tomographic (CT) scanner and the VarioGuide™ articulated arm (BrainLab, Munich, Germany). CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 62-yr-old woman presented with an irregularly shaped, enhancing lesion of the left pons/middle cerebellar peduncle. Slowed diffusion on magnetic resonance imaging suggested an abscess, but no definitive infectious agent/source could be identified. When the patient deteriorated despite broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy, she was taken to the operating room for stereotactic drainage of the abscess employing the described technique. A specific infectious agent (Eikenella corrodens) was identified from the aspirate, allowing for tailored antibiotic therapy. The procedure was well tolerated and the patient made a full recovery with minimal neurological sequelae. CONCLUSION: The combination of the Airo™ intraoperative CT and the Varioguide™ articulated arm allows for safe, accurate, and efficient targeting of posterior fossa lesions.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia pneumonia after bone marrow transplantation: case report with emphasis on the high-resolution CT findings.

A 6-year-old female patient who underwent bone marrow transplantation because of Fanconi anaemia presented with fever, dyspnoea and cough 17 days after the procedure. The physical examination revealed diffuse crackles. Chest radiographs demonstrated diffuse alveolar opacities in both lungs. High-resolution CT showed a diffuse and bilateral lung lesion characterized by multifocal areas of air-space consolidation associated with ground-glass attenuation and small centrilobular nodules. The culture of the material obtained with bronchoalveolar lavage only demonstrated growth of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. The patient rapidly presented respiratory insufficiency and death in the same day.

Aeromonas hydrophila: myofascial necrosis and sepsis.

An alcoholic patient with ascites was admitted to the intensive care unit for gastrointestinal bleeding. He subsequently developed spontaneous myonecrosis of the extremities culminating in sepsis syndrome. This was a unique, non-traumatic presentation of Aeromonas hydrophila soft tissue injury.