Chronic Subdural Hematoma / Subdural Hygroma

These images are from an 76 year old man, who suffered a severe fall 6 months before seeking medical attention. He complained of memory loss, and had been depressed since the death of his wife. He had a history of alcoholism, with several hospital admissions for gastrointestinal bleeding.

Note the large fluid collection displacing the brain. It is white on T2-weighted images, and, of course, non-perfused on SPECT. The lateral and third ventricles are a bit large, partly due to the effects of age and partly to the effects of alcohol abuse. The mammillary bodies are small in this case compared to the normal, a finding commonly seen in alcoholics.

Some details have been altered to protect confidentiality.

Keith A. Johnson (keith@bwh.harvard.edu), J. Alex Becker (jabecker@mit.edu)