Armored Brain Associated with Secondary Craniostenosis Development at 7-year following Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Surgery during Infancy: Extremely Unusual Association and Review

An early presentation of a large calcified chronic subdural hematoma presenting as an inner eggshell in an elderly patient: A case report

INTRODUCTION

Calcified chronic subdural hematoma which is usually found in children and takes several months for calcification to be seen on imaging is presented in an elderly patient in which the calcification could be visible early after trauma.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

An elderly man, 83, living with caregiver, was brought to our hospital due to dysarthria and suffocation for 2 days. Three months ago, he experienced his head injury from a fall. Four days ago, he developed progressive left hemiparesis. Because of clinically progressive deterioration and computed tomography scan revealing acute epidural hematoma, the patient was transferred to operating room. Gross findings and pathologic reports unfolded that the lesion was consistent with calcified chronic subdural hematoma. Despite a successful operation, the patient cannot survive.

DISCUSSION

In addition to the presentation in an elderly patient, there was scarcely any paper reporting an early presentation of calcium deposition. Nevertheless, according to the lack of previous data recorded for his earlier performance, deviation on walking or sitting, before the accident, we cannot actually know whether there has been calcium deposition in his brain before or not.

CONCLUSION

Calcified chronic subdural hematoma could present in elderly group of patient and early presentation of calcium deposition following trauma is possible. However, surgery in this group of patient entails a risk of fatality, despite the successful operation.

Calcified or Ossified Chronic Subdural Hematoma: A Systematic Review of 114 Cases Reported During Last Century with a Demonstrative Case Report

OBJECTIVE

Calcified or ossified chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH), characterized by slowly progressing neurologic symptoms, is a rarely seen entity that may remain asymptomatic for many years. Management of CSDH has improved dramatically in recent years as a result of advances in diagnostic tools, but there is still some controversy regarding the optimal treatment strategy.

METHODS

In this systematic review, PRISMA guidelines were followed to query existing online databases between January 1930 and December 2018. We found a total of 88 articles containing 114 cases of calcified or ossified CSDH, comprising 83 patients operated on and 31 not operated on.

RESULTS

In this study, there were 78 males and 29 females (7 with unreported gender) from 25 countries, ages ranging from 4 months to 86 years (mean, 33.7 years), with CSDH caused by head trauma in 33.3%, shunting for hydrocephalus in 27.2%, or after cranial surgery in 4.4%. The duration of symptoms ranged from acute onset to 20 years, with a mean of 24.1 months. Imaging techniques such as radiography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging were used, with pathologic confirmation of CSDH and complete recovery in 56.4% of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Incidence of calcified or ossified CSDH is high in certain countries, including the United States, Japan, and Turkey, with a steady increase in recent years. The therapy of choice is surgery in these patients and it should be considered in the differential diagnosis at presentation because of its infrequency and variable clinical manifestation, after shunting in children or head trauma in adults.