Spontaneous acute subdural hematoma as the initial manifestation of chronic myeloid leukemia

Spontaneous acute subdural hematoma is rare and limited to sporadic case reports, associated with neoplasm, aneurysm, arteriovenous malformation and cocaine use. Subdural hematoma has also been reported in association with leukemic malignancies, either during therapy or after diagnosis. However, there are no reports of spontaneous acute subdural hematoma as the primary initial presenting manifestation of a chronic myeloid leukemia. Here we describe one case of a 53-year-old male that presented with severe right-sided headache and intermittent left-sided paresthesias. CT scan showed non-traumatic right-sided acute subdural hematoma. Further evaluation revealed that the patient had chronic myeloid leukemia. His peripheral white blood count normalized after Gleevec and hydroxyurea chemotherapy. Furthermore, he had no neurological deficits after his subdural collection was adequately evacuated.