• Beata Kaczorowska, Henryk Chmielewski, Małgorzata Pawełczyk, Monika Przybyła, Bogdan Błaszczyk, and Wiesław Chudzik.
• Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lodzi, Uniwersytecki Szpital Kliniczny nr 2, Klinika Neurologii i Epileptologii. neurol@skwam.lodz.pl
• Pol. Merkur. Lekarski. 2007 Feb 1; 22 (128): 150-3.

AbstractWe report the case of patient with rheumatoid arthritis treated by sulfasalazin. He was hospitalized because of general erythrodermia and diarrhoea with dysproteinemia. The consciousness disturbances and the meningitis syndrome occured in the course of disease. The findings of cerebrospinal fluid suggested viral meningitis and encephalitis. The treatment was started. After short-term improvement, the focal neurological deficits and the consciousness disturbances appeared again. The examinations of the computed tomography and the magnetic resonance image suggested inflammatory or neoplasmatic process. The inflammatory process seemed to be more probable and antibiotic treatment was administered. The following CT and MRI findings confirmed inflammatory changes of brain tissue and abscess formation tendency. After the neurosurgeon consultation the conservatively treatment was continued. The 2 month therapy achieved a successful outcome. We report this case because of the difficulties of diagnostic and treatment choices and the 50% mortality connected with the multiple brain abscesses. It seems that in our case the bacterial infection was secondary to the viral encephalomeningitis. We couldn't find the primary focus of bacterial infection, although the infection cause was undoubtedly hematogenous (abscesses location on the boundaries of cerebral cortex and white matter). There is no evident therapeutic standards and the choice of the best treatment is still under discussion. However, neuroimagining techniques are very useful in the correct diagnosis and optimal treatment.

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