Clinical Study of Delayed Traumatic Intracerebral Hematoma

Twelve cases of delayed traumatic intracerebral hematoma(DTICH) were found retrospectively among 826 patients with closed head injuries admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, Ewhe Womans University in a 2-year period. All cases had severe head injuries sustained with the head in motion. The interval from cranial injury to diagnosis of DTICH by computerized tomography(CT) varied from 15 hours to 11 days. The diagnosis was made on repeat CT scans obtained because of the development of focal findings, lack of improvement and/or general neurological deterioration. One patient had initially negative CT scans. Six patients demonstrated only extracerebral hematoma on initial CT scans. Two patients showed acute intracerebral hematoma on the initial scan followed by new hematomas on repeat study. Ten patients were treated surgically, and eight had fair & good results. The cases presented are discussed in the light of pertinent literature.