Factors in the natural history of chronic subdural hematomas that influence their postoperative recurrence

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Nakaguchi ◽  
Takeo Tanishima ◽  
Norio Yoshimasu

Object. Factors affecting the postoperative recurrence of chronic subdural hematomas (CSDHs) have not been sufficiently investigated. The authors have attempted to determine features of CSDHs that are associated with a high or low recurrence rate on the basis of the natural history of these lesions and their intracranial extension. Methods. One hundred six patients (82 men and 24 women) harboring 126 CSDHs who were treated at Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Hospital between January 1989 and April 1998 were studied. Types of CSDHs were classified according to hematoma density and internal architecture, and the intracranial extension of the hematomas were investigated. The postoperative recurrence rate was calculated for each factor. Based on the internal architecture and density of each hematoma, the CSDHs were classified into four types, including homogeneous, laminar, separated, and trabecular types. The recurrence rate associated with the separated type was high, whereas that associated with the trabecular type was low. Chronic subdural hematomas are believed to develop initially as the homogeneous type, after which they sometimes progress to the laminar type. A mature CSDH is represented by the separated stage and the hematoma eventually passes through the trabecular stage during absorption. Based on the intracranial extension of each hematoma, CSDHs were classified into three types, including convexity, cranial base, and interhemispheric types. The recurrence rate of cranial base CSDHs was high and that of convexity CSDHs was low. Conclusions. Classification of CSDHs according to the internal architecture and intracranial extension may be useful for predicting the risk of postoperative recurrence.

1991 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 715-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy B. Garner ◽  
O. Del Curling ◽  
David L. Kelly ◽  
D. Wayne Laster

✓ Cerebral venous angiomas are congenital anomalies of the intracranial venous drainage. Many believe that they are associated with a high risk of hemorrhage and neurological dysfunction, but newer neurodiagnostic imaging techniques are showing not only that they are more common than previously known but also that many have no associated symptoms. In this retrospective study, the natural history of venous angiomas was examined in 100 patients (48 males and 52 females) with radiographically identifiable lesions treated over a 14-year period. Information on the natural history of the lesion was obtained from clinical records and follow-up data. Imaging studies included angiography, computerized tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. Angioma locations were classified as frontal (42 cases), parietal (24 cases), occipital (4 cases), temporal (2 cases), basal or ventricular (11 cases), cerebellar (14 cases), or brain stem (3 cases); 47 lesions were on the left side. Headache as a presenting symptom was common (36 patients) and often led to other radiographic studies, but this appeared to be related to the vascular lesion in only four patients. Other possibly related complications were hemorrhage in one patient, seizures in five, and transient focal deficits in eight. Fifteen patients had no neurological signs or symptoms. The mean patient age at last contact was 45.3 years (range 3 to 94 years). All patients have been managed without surgery. It is concluded that significant complications secondary to venous angiomas are infrequent and that surgical resection of these lesions and of surrounding brain is rarely indicated.


2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 1130-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessio Albanese ◽  
Antonio Tuttolomondo ◽  
Carmelo Anile ◽  
Giovanni Sabatino ◽  
Angelo Pompucci ◽  
...  

✓ Chronic subdural hematomas (SDHs) generally occur in elderly patients. Its pathogenesis is usually related to head trauma with tearing and rupture of the bridging veins, although in some cases a history of trauma is not recognizable. There are many reports regarding the association between spontaneous chronic SDHs and an alteration in coagulative parameters. A coagulative disorder should be suspected when an unexplained hemorrhage occurs, especially in a young patient. The authors report on three young men with a deficiency in coagulation factor XIII (FXIII) who underwent surgery for chronic SDHs. The role of FXIII in the pathogenesis of chronic SDH is emphasized. In patients with unexplained chronic SDH all coagulation parameters and factors should be screened to identify an eventual coagulative disorder.


2003 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
John E. Wanebo ◽  
Russell R. Lonser ◽  
Gladys M. Glenn ◽  
Edward H. Oldfield

Object. The goals of this study were to define the natural history and growth pattern of hemangioblastomas of the central nervous system (CNS) that are associated with von Hippel—Lindau (VHL) disease and to correlate features of hemangioblastomas that are associated with the development of symptoms and the need for treatment. Methods. The authors reviewed serial magnetic resonance images and clinical histories of 160 consecutive patients with VHL disease who harbored CNS hemangioblastomas and serially measured the volumes of tumors and associated cysts. Six hundred fifty-five hemangioblastomas were identified in the cerebellum (250 tumors), brainstem (64 tumors, all of which were located in the posterior medulla oblongata), spinal cord (331 tumors, 96% of which were located in the posterior half of spinal cord), and the supratentorial brain (10 tumors). The symptoms were related to a mass effect. A serial increase in hemangioblastoma size was observed in cerebellar, brainstem, and spinal cord tumors as patients progressed from being asymptomatic to symptomatic and requiring surgery (p < 0.0001). Twenty-one (72%) of 29 symptom-producing cerebellar tumors had an associated cyst, whereas only 28 (13%) of 221 nonsymptomatic cerebellar tumors had tumor-associated cysts (p < 0.0001). Nine (75%) of 12 symptomatic brainstem tumors had associated cysts, compared with only four (8%) of 52 nonsymptomatic brainstem lesions (p < 0.0001). By the time the symptoms appeared and surgery was required, the cyst was larger than the causative tumor; cerebellar and brainstem cysts measured 34 and 19 times the size of their associated tumors at surgery, respectively. Ninety-five percent of symptom-producing spinal hemangioblastomas were associated with syringomyelia. The clinical circumstance was dynamic. Among the 88 patients who had undergone serial imaging for 6 months or longer (median 32 months), 164 (44%) of 373 hemangioblastomas and 37 (67%) of 55 tumor-associated cysts enlarged. No tumors or cysts spontaneously diminished in size. Symptomatic cerebellar and brainstem tumors grew at rates six and nine times greater, respectively, than asymptomatic tumors in the same regions. Cysts enlarged seven (cerebellum) and 15 (brainstem) times faster than the hemangioblastomas causing them. Hemangioblastomas frequently demonstrated a pattern of growth in which they would enlarge for a period of time (growth phase) and then stabilize in a period of arrested growth (quiescent phase). Of 69 patients with documented tumor growth, 18 (26%) harbored tumors with at least two growth phases. Of 160 patients with hemangioblastomas, 34 patients (median follow up 51 months) were found to have 115 new hemangioblastomas and 15 patients new tumor-associated cysts. Conclusions. In this study the authors define the natural history of CNS hemangioblastomas associated with VHL disease. Not only were cysts commonly associated with cerebellar, brainstem, and spinal hemangioblastomas, the pace of enlargement was much faster for cysts than for hemangioblastomas. By the time symptoms appeared, the majority of mass effect—producing symptoms derived from the cyst, rather than from the tumor causing the cyst. These tumors often have multiple periods of tumor growth separated by periods of arrested growth, and many untreated tumors may remain the same size for several years. These characteristics must be considered when determining the optimal timing of screening for individual patients and for evaluating the timing and results of treatment.


2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
pp. 976-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eiichi Kobayashi ◽  
Naokatsu Saeki ◽  
Hiromichi Oishi ◽  
Shinji Hirai ◽  
Akira Yamaura

Object. The purpose of this study was to delineate the long-term natural history of hemorrhagic moyamoya disease (MMD).Methods. A retrospective review was conducted among 42 patients suffering from hemorrhagic MMD who had been treated conservatively without bypass surgery. The group included four patients who had undergone indirect bypass surgery after an episode of rebleeding. The follow-up period averaged 80.6 months. The clinical features of the first bleeding episode and repeated bleeding episodes were analyzed to determine the risk factors of rebleeding and poor outcome.Intraventricular hemorrhage with or without intracerebral hemorrhage was a dominant finding on computerized tomography scans during the first bleeding episode in 29 cases (69%). During the follow-up period, 14 patients experienced a second episode of bleeding, which occurred 10 years or longer after the original hemorrhage in five cases (35.7%). The annual rebleeding rate was 7.09%/person/year. The second bleeding episode was characterized by a change in which hemisphere bleeding occurred in three cases (21.4%) and by the type of bleeding in seven cases (50%). After rebleeding the rate of good recovery fell from 45.5% to 21.4% and the mortality rate rose from 6.8% to 28.6%. Rebleeding and patient age were statistically significant risk factors of poor outcome. All four patients in whom there was indirect revascularization after the second bleeding episode experienced a repeated bleeding episode within 8 years.Conclusions. The occurrence of rebleeding a long time after the first hemorrhagic episode was not uncommon. Furthermore, the change in which hemisphere and the type of bleeding that occurred after the first episode suggested the difficulty encountered in the prevention of repeated hemorrhage.


1987 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Feuerberg ◽  
Christer Lindquist ◽  
Melker Lindqvist ◽  
Ladislau Steiner

✓ In a series of 715 patients operated on by microsurgical techniques for intracranial saccular aneurysms between 1970 and 1980, part of the aneurysmal sac was not obliterated in 28 aneurysms in 27 patients (3.8% of 715 cases). Clinical follow-up evaluation for 8 years (range 4 to 13 years) and angiographic follow-up studies for 6 years (range 2 to 10 years) in these 27 cases revealed that one aneurysm rest increased in size and bled twice, five were spontaneously obliterated, two decreased in size, 13 remained unchanged, and in seven cases no late follow-up angiography was performed. The incidence of rebleeding from an aneurysm rest was 3.7% of the 27 in whom the sac was not obliterated and 0.14% of all 715 patients who were operated on.


1977 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 731-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duke S. Samson ◽  
Richard M. Hodosh ◽  
W. Kemp Clark

✓ The natural history of unruptured asymptomatic aneurysms is unclear. Because of this uncertainty regarding risk of ultimate enlargement and/or hemorrhage, and in view of the significant mortality and morbidity traditionally involved in aneurysm surgery, clinicians have varied in their advocacy of surgical management of such lesions. Forty-nine consecutive patients harboring 52 such aneurysms were treated surgically over a 57-month period. There were no surgical deaths and morbidity was within acceptable limits. Patient population characteristics and surgical technique are discussed.


1987 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 618-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Goldman ◽  
Samuel E. Gandy

✓ Primary intracerebral squamous cell carcinoma is a rare sequela of benign cerebral epidermoid cysts. A case of presumed malignant transformation in a lateral ventricular epidermoid cyst is described, in which squamous cell carcinoma arose 33 years after the surgical resection of a benign epidermoid cyst. Three years after diagnosis of malignancy, the patient remains functional with a slowly invasive tumor. This case provides a rare description of the natural history of forebrain squamous cell carcinoma, which would appear to be a more indolent tumor than previously realized.


1985 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Jane ◽  
Neal F. Kassell ◽  
James C. Torner ◽  
H. Richard Winn

✓ The authors summarize the findings of previous studies relating to the natural history of aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations (AVM's). Ruptured aneurysms have their highest rate of rebleeding on Day 1, and at least 50% will rebleed during the 6 months after the first hemorrhage. Thereafter, the rate drops to at least 3% a year. This is the same rate as seen in anterior and posterior communicating artery aneurysms treated by anterior cerebral artery clipping and carotid ligation; these operations provide immediate protection but do not result in long-term diminution of the risk of rebleeding. Patients with unruptured incidental and unruptured multiple aneurysms rebleed at a rate of 1% per year, as do patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage of unknown etiology. The risk of rebleeding for AVM's is 3% a year.


2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 791-795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Nakaguchi ◽  
Takeo Tanishima ◽  
Norio Yoshimasu

Object. This study was conducted to determine the best position for the subdural drainage catheter to achieve a low recurrence rate after burr-hole irrigation and closed-system drainage of chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH).Methods. The authors studied 63 patients with CSDH in whom the drainage catheter tip was randomly placed and precisely determined on postoperative computerized tomography (CT) scans and 104 patients with CSDH in whom CT scans were obtained 7 days postsurgery. The location of the subdural drainage catheter, the maximum postoperative width of the subdural space, and the percentage of the ipsilateral subdural space occupied by air postoperatively were determined and compared with the postoperative recurrence and reoperation rates.Patients with parietal or occipital drainage had a higher rate of CSDH recurrence and much more subdural air than those with frontal drainage. In addition, patients with residual subdural air demonstrated on CT scans obtained 7 days postsurgery also had a higher recurrence rate than those without subdural air collections. Furthermore, patients with a subdural space wider than 10 mm on CT scans obtained 7 days postsurgery had a higher recurrence rate than those with a space measuring 10 mm or less.Conclusions. The incidence of postoperative fluid reaccumulation seems to be reduced by placing the tip of the drainage catheter in the frontal convexity and by removing subdural air during or after surgery.


1984 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1300-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan H. Fruin ◽  
Gregory L. Juhl ◽  
Charles Taylon

✓ A case of interhemispheric subdural hematoma (ISH) is presented and discussed. This disorder is a rare form of intracranial hemorrhage, which classically presents as an isolated paresis of one leg or a hemiparesis worse in the leg than the arm. The majority of cases are due to occipital trauma because of the anatomy of the bridging veins. Chronic interhemispheric hematomas are rare since the natural history of these lesions is to spread out over the cerebral convexity. Conservative treatment for ISH may be beneficial unless neurological deterioration necessitates early operative intervention.


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