Brain Abscess after the Treatment of Maxillary Cancer; A Case Report

Brain abscess occurred in a patient with maxillary cancer treated with radiotherapy, chemotherapy by arterial infusion and radical surgery for right maxillary cancer.Three months after the treatment, the symptoms of temporal bone necrosis which were otorrhea, preauricular fistula and swelling of the preauricular lesion and the external auditory meatus were evident. Meningitis and brain abscess developed subsequently. Right temporal craniotomy was performed to remove the brain abscess and bone necrosis. Since the operation the patient has been asymptomatic and there has been no evidence of cancer recurrence.Intracranial complications due to temporal bone necrosis after the treatment of head and neck cancer are discussed. It is especially important to diagnose osteonecrosis and intracranial complications early after the combination therapy of maxillary cancer, because there is a high risk of infection due to direct surgery of bones or to bone exposure at the site of operation, especially when radiation therapy is used.