[Treatment of recurrent chronic subdural hematoma in a patient with arachnoid cyst]

Arachnoid cysts are congenital fluid-filled compartments within the cerebrospinal fluid cisterns and major cerebral fissure, between two layers of the arachnoid membrane. They can develop anywhere within the subarachnoid space, most frequently located within the Sylvian fissure in the middle fossa. In young patients with the arachnoid cyst and history of head trauma chronic subdural hematoma is present up to 4.6%.

This is a case report of a 21 year old male, with left temporal lobe arachnoid cyst. Three months after minor head injury the patient was admitted to our clinic with chronic subdural hematoma compressing the surrounding tissue. The scull burr-hole trepanation was performed and the hematoma was drained. The control CT scan showed a reduced size of the chronic subdural hematoma with the smaller subdural collection of the fresh blood. Three weeks after the intervention the new CT scan showed the recurrence of the chronic subdural hematoma. The second trepanation was performed and the hematoma was drained. After the second operation, the patient was with no neurological disorders and subjective complaints. Three months after the second intervention, the control CT scan visualized only the arachnoid cyst in the temporal lobe, without the presence of the subdural hematoma.

We conclude that a chronic subdural hematoma and reccurrent chronic subdural hematoma in patients with the arachnoid cyst in the fossa media should be drained by applying the method of burr-hole trepanation. In the patient with no subjective complaints and neurological disorders, the operative treatment of the arachnoid cyst is not considered necessary.