Successful treatment of multicompartmental cerebral ventriculitis caused by Acinetobacter baumanii

Abstract

We present a case report of a 58-year- old woman with subarachnoid haemorrhage complicated by non-communicating hydrocephalus. During the course of her neurosurgical management, she developed external-ventricular drain associated ventriculitis which in turn was complicated by lack of communication between third and fourth ventricles. The causative organism was a fully-sensitive Acinetobacter baumanii, a nosocomial pathogen often associated with complicated treatment regimens and poor outcomes. This patient was successfully managed by a multi-disciplinary team involving neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists and infection specialists. Patient made a full recovery following double CSF diversion and intravenous plus intrathecal antimicrobial therapy.