1995 Volume 4 Issue 2 Pages 170-173
This paper reports a case of posterior fossa epidural hematoma in a 21 month old girl. She was dropped accidentally by her mother and hit her head on the ground. Then she vomited several times and she was immediately admitted to our hospital while still unconscious. A plain X-ray film of the skull showed a linear fracture across the transverse sinus. A CT scan demonstrated a slightly high density area with a small isodensity area in the right posterior fossa. The next CT scan performed 60 minutes after the first examination revealed an lenticular epidural hematoma appearing as a high density area. Evacuation of the hematoma was performed, and the child was discharged without neurological deficit 11 days after admission. Acute epidural hematoma of the posterior fossa is very rare in children younger than two years of age. It is difficult to make a correct diagnosis only by clinical symptoms. Hence, a CT scan should be performed for all patients, including small infant, with occipital head injury. It should also be noted that at the first examination, the fresh hematoma may appear as a low or mixed density area. When early diagnosis and timely treatment are achieved, the prognosis becomes excellent in cases without cerebral injury.
