Subdural hematoma and effusion in infants; review of 55 cases.

Abstract

THE RELATIVELY high operative mortality of subdural hematomas in infants as compared with adults offers a challenging problem to pediatricians and neurologic surgeons. In the hope of gaining a clearer understanding of subdural hematomas and effusions in infants, it is our purpose to present in this publication an etiologic and clinical pathologic analysis of 55 cases and to show the importance of maintaining an adequate fluid and protein balance as an adjunct to the surgical treatment of this disorder. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE For a rather common condition, subdural hematomas in infants are infrequently reported in the literature. As early as 1877, Huguenin 1 reported that 2.7 per cent of all cases of subdural pachymeningitis (this is the old term for subdural hematoma) observed at autopsy were in children under 1 year of age. However, it was not until about fifty years later that the literature began to