ANGIOGRAPHIC EXTRAVASATION OF CONTRAST-MEDIUM IN ACUTE SPONTANEOUS SUBDURAL-HEMATOMA

Acute spontaneous subdural hematoma is very rare. We have encountered four such cases and verified the arterial origin of the bleeding at op eration. None of the patients had a history of head trauma, and each h ad developed sudden onset of headache and other neurologic deficits, w hich simulate other cerebrovascular diseases. CT directly revealed sub dural hematoma but gave no indication as to the source of the bleeding . Cerebral angiography was performed in all cases, with three of them showing localized extravasation of the contrast material into the subd ural space. The extravasation was noted usually in the late arterial p hase. This is a useful finding for diagnosing this disease and localiz ing the breeding point. It is expected that with more routine use of c erebral angiography in cases of acute spontaneous subdural hematoma, e xtravasation of the contrast medium will be seen more frequently.