Clinical infections in neurosurgical oncology: An overview

Table 1 A general overview of the central nervous system infections

Cranial infections	Spinal infections	Other infections
Brain abscess	Epidural abscess	Viral meningoencephalitis
Meningitis	Subdural empyema	Parasitic infections
Subdural empyema	Myelitis	Fungal infections
Epidural abscess	Spondylitis	Prion diseases
Shunt infection	Discitis	Wound infections
Osteitis

Table 2 Specific factors affecting the course of central nervous system infections

Factor	Effect
Blood-brain barrier	Selective permeability to chemotherapeutic agents (affecting the infection course)
Uniformity of the subarachnoid space	Allows continuous spread of infection through the cerebrospinal fluid
Circulatory disturbances	Ischaemia from venous and arterial infarctions
Increased intracranial pressure	Vessel compression and thrombosis
Cerebral oedema	Leads to increase in intracranial pressure, potentiating brain damage

Table 3 Most common causative agents for brain abscess

Bacteria	Protozoa	Fungi	Helminthes
Staphylococcus aureus	Histoplasma capsulatum	Candida	Taenia sollium
Staphylococcus epidermidis	Trypanosoma cruzi	Aspergillus	Schistosoma spp.
Streptococcus milleri	Entamoeba histolytica	Cryptococcus	Paragonimus
Streptococcus viridans	Naegleria fowleri	Rhizopus arrhizus
Pseudomonas spp.	Acanthamoeba	Coccidioides
Enterobacteriaceae		Blastomyces dermatitidis
Propionibacterium acnes		Histoplasma capsulatum
Clostridium spp.

Table 4 Most common causative agents for meningitis

Bacteria	Viruses	Fungi
Streptococcus pneumoniae	Herpes simplex virus	Cryptococcus neoformans
Listeria monocytogenes	Epstein-Barr virus	Coccidioides immitis
Escherichia coli	Mumps	Aspergillus
Neisseria meningitidis	Enteroviruses	Candida
Haemophilus influenzae	Varicella-zoster virus	Mucormycosis
Group B Streptococcus	Measles
Mycobacterium tuberculosis	Influenza
Staphylococcus aureus	Arboviruses