Chronic epidural hematoma of the vertex

Epidural hematomas of the cranial vertex can be rarely found in patients victims of head trauma. The diagnosis of the vertex hematoma may be delayed by the odd location of the bleeding site and the absence of a clear localization symptomatology. The current method of choice for investigation of head trauma patients, the computed tomography (CT) scans, may also give misleading diagnostic clues. Epidural hematomas of the vertex can be also encountered in a chronic form, and re-bleeding is possibly the underlying mechanism for the long term permanence of the hematoma. We report a case of a patient with a chronic epidural hematoma of the cranial vertex with a long interval between the trauma and the symptoms onset. We review the current literature focusing on the diagnostic pitfalls and forms of treatment of the chronic epidural hematoma of the vertex. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.