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Symptoms of Brain abscess
The effects of a brain abscess depend on its position and whether the brain has been squashed and damaged. Symptoms may be rapid or develop slowly over a period of weeks.
Headache is usually the first symptom of brain abscess. This results from raised pressure inside the skull, as the abscess presses on the brain.
Abscesses in the lower rear brain (the cerebellum) tend to cause loss of balance, a staggering walk, and neck stiffness.
If the abscess is in the frontal lobes of the brain, it may cause loss of memory and reduced attention span, and dysphasia (speech disorders).
Abscesses in the temporal lobes at the sides of the brain usually cause partial loss of vision.
Other symptoms of brain abscess can include:
- Drowsiness;
- Confusion;
- Seizures (fits);
- Paralysis;
- Loss of sensation;
- Loss of coordination;
- Weakness;
- Fever and chills;
- Vomiting;
- Irritability; and eventually
- Coma.
In rare cases, brain abscesses cause no symptoms. These are known as silent abscesses.
