Abstract
Hospital records and CT films of 108 patients with putaminal hematoma were reviewed in order to evaluate factors influencing the outcome. Univariate analyses using λ2 test were first employed to find relationships between clinical and CT factors relative to patients' outcome. Factors contributing significantly to the determination of outcome were found to be-level of consciousness estimated by the Edinburgh 2 Coma Scale (E2CS), volume of hematoma, pupillary reaction, abnormality in respiration, midline shift, degree of paresis, ventricular rupture, time from onset to admission, alcohol intake, and past history of hypertension.
Using these factors, we attempted to find an important factor influencing patients' outcome by multivariate analysis (discriminating analysis by Hayashi's categorical quantitative method, type 2).
Correct discrimination rates by the 1st and 2nd synthetic variate of clinical factors alone (i.e. without CT factors) were 83 and 63%, and correlation ratios of them were 0.84 and 0.44 respectively. Factors showing high correlation coefficient were level of consciousness by the E2CS, degree of paresis, and pupillary reaction. Correct discrimination rates and correlation ratios of CT factors were noted to be lower than those of clinical factors. Combination of both clinical and CT factors did not improve the above statistical parameters.
This study showed that addition of CT factors to the clinical ones does not necessarily improve discrimination of the outcome in patients with putaminal hematoma. Close observation of clinical conditions, particularly the level of consciousness by the E2CS, is important in estimating the prognosis of the patients.
