Asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic traumatic epidural haematomas: comparison of the results of surgical and conservative management related to SPECT and neuropsychological tests - Preliminary results

One hundred and thirteen patients with asymptomatic or minimally symptomati c epidural heamatomas treated surgically or conservatively in our departmen t were collected prospectively. Between 3 and 6 months after the head injur y a SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) study for evaluation of the three-dimensional cerebral blood flow distribution and extensive ne uropsychological tests were performed in 22 patients. The preliminary resul ts of this prospective study have demonstrated that minimally symptomatic o r asymptomatic EDHs cause no pathologic SPECT findings and that neuropsycho logical impairment and duration of the haematoma do not affect the results of conservative management.