Open AccessAn interesting case of cerebral abscess
Author(s) -
Muhammad Rafiq
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr.10.2008.1038
Subject(s) - medicine , telangiectases , brain abscess , telangiectasia , physical examination , abscess , rare disease , surgery , radiology , disease
An immigrant from Romania was referred to the neurosurgical unit with a cerebral abscess. On examination she was cyanosed and had clubbing of her fingers. A cardiovascular system examination revealed a systolic murmur heard all over the precordium. However, the diagnosis was not congenital cyanotic heart disease. The patient had a history of frequent nosebleeds and had multiple telangiectases on her body, leading to the diagnosis of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). A search was carried out for the presence of arteriovenous malformations in internal organs. Large arteriovenous malformations were found in the lungs, causing her cyanosis due to right-to-left shunting of blood and cerebral abscess due to paradoxical septic embolisation into cerebral circulation.