ABSTRACT
A patient with acute simultaneous bilateral extradural hematomas is presented and the mechanism of formation and the sequence of operations necessary to reduce the risk of disability are discussed. The recent literature is reviewed and it is suggested that two types of bilateral extradural hematoma may be found, depending upon whether venous or arterial bleeding is responsible.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Hemorrhage/diagnostic imaging , Hematoma/diagnostic imaging , Adult , Cerebral Hemorrhage/surgery , Hematoma/surgery , Humans , Male , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
Hypoxia and hypotension are extracranial insults known to have an adverse effect on the outcome of patients with acute head injury. Arterial oxygen tension, blood pressure and the Glasgow Coma Score on admission of 67 patients seen over a 6-month period were correlated with the outcome at 6 months. With a given level of consciousness the presence of an extracranial insult resulted in a worse outcome than would be predicted. The combination of hypoxia and hypotension was uniformly fatal as was the presence of severe respiratory dysfunction.
