[Vascular accidents of the cerebellum]

Vascular accidents of the cerebellum include heamorrhages and infarctions. These two pathologies share the same clinical symptoms and the same potential severity due to the sudden creation of an expansive cerebellar process (haematoma or infarct). Owing to acute compression of the brain stem and of CSF channels in the posterior fossa, and to the resulting supratentorial obstructive hydrocephalus, cerebellar vascular accidents are acute neurosurgical emergencies. Although the diagnosis and prognosis of the lesions have been transformed by computerized tomography of the brain, they remain extremely serious. This underlines the need for early detection, especially since, unlike vascular accidents of the brain, their functional sequelae after treatment are moderate.