[Cerebral aspergilloma. Review of the literature apropos of a case].
The incidence of mycotic infection of C.N.S. seems to have increased in the last few years and the diagnosis is being made more and more frequently. The authors are reporting a case of a 27 year old man, admitted with severe intracranial hypertension, very poor visual acuity and right motor weakness. The C.T. Scan showed a massive space occupying lesion in the left hemisphere. Only the biopsy, then the surgical removal of the lesion revealed the true histological nature. It turned out to be aspergilloma. The patient expired 13 hours later. Up to date, 25 cases of Aspergillus granulomas have been reported. This disease is included in the entity of neuromycosis. Its specificity compared to the other types of cerebral mycotic localization as for example abscess, meningitis, mycotic aneurysm, lies in the fact that it presents as granulomatous mass in the hemisphere, mimicking a brain tumor without any specific neuroradiological findings. In the light of so far published literature, the authors draw the attention to the fact of the difficulty of diagnosis of this dreadful benign disease due to the lack of specific clinical and radiological findings. They are stressing the necessity of early and vigorous diagnosis mainly in patients with a risk factor to try to reduce the high mortality that has been universally reported in almost all cases.