Neurological diseases >>>> Arachnoiditis is a serious complication of other diseases

Arachnoiditis is a serious complication of other diseases.

Arachnoiditis is a non-suppurative inflammation of the arachnoid membrane of the brain. Sometimes the pia mater can also be involved in the inflammatory process. The arachnoid membrane is located between the hard and soft membranes of the brain. Under it is a space filled with cerebrospinal fluid, the volume of which can change due to the constant outflow from the cranial cavity.

Arachnoiditis is dangerous because, as a result of the inflammatory process, adhesions are formed in the subarachnoid space of the brain. They disrupt the movement of the spinal fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) and increase intracranial pressure, can lead to complete loss of vision, hearing, epileptic syndromes.

Arachnoiditis usually occurs as a complication of infectious diseases: scarlet fever, measles, mumps, flu, tonsillitis, sinusitis, otitis media. It happens that a traumatic brain injury can become the cause of arachnoiditis. But arachnoiditis can also be an independent disease caused by a neuroinfection (for example, viral) or an autoimmune disease that provokes proliferative processes (cystic arachnoiditis) or fibrosis in the arachnoid membrane of the brain.

The signs of arachnoiditis are similar to those of meningitis, but they are less severe:

Heat
Headache
Dizziness
Urge to vomit
Sleep disturbances
Blurred vision

Symptoms of arachnoiditis may appear suddenly or develop gradually, but after an infectious disease, the patient's condition worsens.

Depending on where the inflammatory process takes place, arachnoiditis is also distinguished.

In the case of arachnoiditis of the posterior cranial fossa (in the region of the cerebellum and brain stem), an increase in signs of increased intracranial pressure is characteristic (symptoms appear suddenly and are tied to the position of the head). With a sharp jump in intracranial pressure, convulsions, respiratory and / or cardiac disorders may occur. The cranial nerves can be involved in the inflammatory process: trigeminal, vestibular - cochlear, sublingual. Inflammation can also affect the cerebellum.

If the focus of inflammation is located between the bridge and the cerebellum, then the patient feels tinnitus, dizziness, facial pain. Paralysis of the facial muscles may occur, hearing falls to a state of deafness. Impaired coordination of movements is possible.

With arachnoiditis of the internal auditory canal, the inflammatory process affects the auditory nerve. Deafness, tinnitus, nystagmus appear, but intracranial pressure does not rise. This form of arachnoiditis can appear as a complication of otitis media.

If the inflammatory process has occupied the intersection of the optic nerves, optic - chiasmal arachnoiditis develops . The characteristic symptoms of such arachnoiditis are: a decrease in visual acuity in one or both eyes, a limitation of the visual field (lateral vision, the central part of the visual field falls out). With an acute inflammatory process, even blindness can develop. If arachnoiditis spreads along the base of the brain (it is called basal arachnoiditis), then the characteristic symptoms will be: nystagmus, the development of converging or diverging strabismus, asymmetry of facial muscles and other symptoms of cranial nerve damage.

Convexital arachnoiditis develops when inflammation of the arachnoid membrane develops on the convex surface of the brain. It is characterized by convulsions, paresis of the muscles of the extremities, disorders of muscle sensitivity.

Treatment of arachnoiditis is carried out in a hospital setting. The tactic of treatment is based on taking drugs that relieve inflammation (glucocorticosteroids), absorbable agents. Depending on the level of increased intracranial pressure, drugs are used that remove fluid from the body. They also use antihistamines, antiepileptic drugs (if necessary), sedatives or tranquilizers. In especially difficult cases of the course of arachnoiditis (for example, the occurrence of cysts or multiple adhesions), surgical intervention is performed in order to remove the cysts, disconnect the adhesions and restore the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid. Antibiotic and immunostimulating therapy is carried out if the source of arachnoiditis, that is, the disease that preceded it, is not completely cured.

Prevention of the occurrence of such a complication as arachnoiditis is reduced to the timely and correct treatment of diseases of bacterial - viral etiology, as well as the identification of autoimmune disorders.