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At the neurosurgical department in Olomouc in 1953-1988 58 patients were treated with the diagnosis of cerebral abscesses. Eight patients died. The most frequently applied surgical operation was total extirpation of the abscess which led to the lowest mortality rate. Less radical surgery (aspiration, drainage) gave much poorer results. This is however, due to the indications of these operations in patients in a poor general condition. After introduction of CT we may expect further development of these less invasive methods. The authors draw attention to differential diagnostic ensuing from the impossibility to differentiate a CT picture of a brain abscess from other pathological conditions. If also clinical signs of inflammatory disease are lacking, the diagnostic error may cause delay of the surgical operation with adverse results for the patient.