Abstract
Posterior fossa subdural hematoma is infrequent, but potentially treatable in the newborn. For the 19 years from 1958 to 1976, 22 cases of posterior fossa subdural hematoma were discovered among 228 autopsies performed on babies up to 28 days of age suffering from intracranial hemorrhage (9.6%). Three cases were treated surgically, of which 2 cases responded to the treatment. It was already reported by us that these 25 cases (3 of our own treated surgically and 22 untreated and found at autopsy) could be divided into 4 groups according to the hemorrhage site, and there existed some correlation between the site of hematoma and the origin of bleeding.
In this paper, we assessed the operative indications for these lesions, by investigating the relationship of the site of the hematoma to the birth weight, the age of onset of symptoms, and the age at death.
It was show that group II, having the hematoma on the upper surface of the cerebellum, provided the most suitable conditions of the operative procedure. Other desirable conditions were indicated as follows;(1) a birth weight greater than 2, 000 g, (2) a clear lucid interval, (3) no combination of intracranial hemorrhage in other sites, and (4) no severe pulmonary complications.
