ABSTRACT
Introduction Chronic subdural hematoma (CSH) is one of the most frequent forms of intracranial hemorrhage. It is a collection of encapsulated, well-delimited fluid and/or coagulated blood in several clotting stages located between the dura mater and the arachnoid mater. Objective To describe the epidemiological aspects of CSH described in the database of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS, in the Portuguese acronym) regarding admission numbers, hospitalization expenses, health care professional expenses, mortality rate, and death numbers by region from 2008 to the first half of 2016. Methods The present work was performed between August and September 2016 with a review about the epidemiological aspects of CSH in Brazil according to the Informatics Department of the Unified Health System (DATASUS) database, encompassing the period from January 2008 to June 2016, and to scientific papers from the past 10 years which were electronically published at the PubMed, Scielo, and LILACS databases. Results From 2008 to the first half of 2016, the total values were the following: hospital admission authorizations (HAAs). 33,878; hospital expenses, BRL 65,909,429.22; health care professional expenses, BRL 25,158,683.21; deaths, 2,758; and mortality rates ranging from 6.47 to 12.63%. Conclusion In spite of the high clinical relevance of CSH, epidemiological studies about this condition are limited. As such, the present paper is an updated approach on CSH, focusing on its epidemiological aspects according to the DATASUS database.