Computerised tomography of acute traumatic intracranial haematoma: reliability of neurosurgeons' interpretations

Two neurosurgeons concerned with the emergency management of patients with head injury correctly diagnosed the presence or absence of an acute intracranial haematoma in 97 scans that were presented to them without knowledge of the patients' clinical details. There were no false-positives or false-negatives, although identification of the type of haematoma was not always possible. The impact of the EMI scan on patient management demands new approaches to the care of head injuries.