Clinical characteristics, brain computerized tomography scan and surgical outcome in elderly patients with chronic subdural hematoma

Objective: To determine clinical characteristics, computer tomography brain imaging, and surgical outcome for elderly patients with chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH). Subject and method: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and retrospective study was conducted on 74 elderly patients diagnosed with CSDH and operated at 108 Military Central Hospital from June 2020 to June 2021. Result: Mean age was 75.2 years; male/female ratio was 3.93/1, the most common cause was traumatic brain injury (49%). The common presenting symptoms of CSDH were altered mental state (70.9%) and headache (68.9%), followed by cognitive impairment (54.1%), hemiparesis (21.6%), hematoma maximal thickness and midline shift were associated with a higher rate of hemiparesis in CSDH patients (p<0.05); The percentage of patients with GCS score ≥ 13 was 90.5%. The portion of unilateral on the brain CT was 78.4%. The most common densities of CSDH obtained from CT imaging was isodense (accounting for 54.0%); followed by hypodense (20.3%), high-density (17.6%), and mixed-density (8.1%); The most common complication of burr hole technique was pneumocephalus (accounting for 8.1%); recurrence of CSDH (5.4%). The Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) 4-5 was 89.7% within 3 months. Conclusion: Chronic subdural hematoma was one of the most common diseases in neurosurgery. The burr hole drainage technique was safe and effective.