Radiological indicators of survival in patients with bilateral traumatic intracranial hematomas

Aim: To assess the impact of radiological indicators like pre-operative Mid line shift and status of basal cisterns on the survival of patients presenting with combination of EDH+EDH, EDH+SDH and SDH+SDH on the opposite sides. Materials and Methods: 79 patients admitted in the Institute of Neurology, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital & Madras Medical College, Chennai, with bilateral traumatic intracranial extraparenchymalhaematomas were included in this study. Acute, bilateral, traumatic, intracranial-extraparenchymalhaematomas that is composed of EDH+EDH, EDH+SDH and SDH+SDH patterns were included in the study group. CT-Brain was done in all patients. In patients having bilateral intracranial haematomas, the midline shift and the condition of basal cisterns on admission were ascertained and documented. The impact of these factors on the survival of the patients was analysed. The data was subjected to statistical analysis and a “p” value of less than 0.05 was supposed to indicate a positive association of the results and survival. Results: The patients who had a mid line shift of less than 0.5 mm and the patients with a normal basal cistern in the pre-operative phase had statistically significant positive impact on the survival. Conclusion: The statistically significant positive correlation of the included radiological factors makes CT-Brain a useful tool in the assessment of the survival in patients with combination of intracranial haematomas on the opposite sides.