CHRONIC ENCAPSULATED INTRACEREBRAL HEMATOMAS

We present four patients with uncommon encapsulated intracerebral haem atomas (ICH). Because of ring enhancement, three were incorrectly diag nosed as gliomas and operated upon. In one case the diagnosis of chron ic ICH was made on MRI. MRI can be used to demonstrate that a lesion i s only a haematoma and is valuable in follow-up and in differentiating these haematomas from neoplasms. Angiography may reveal a vascular ma lformation which may be the reason for repeated bleeding, which may le ad to encapsulation. The mechanism, however, remains unclear in most c ases.