[The sites of pericerebral effusion in infants]

Clinical observation and chemical analysis led us to consider several anatomical varieties of pericerebral effusions in the infant: pure subdural effusions, subarachnoid effusion as part of ventriculo-subarachnoid hydrocephalus, and at the same time, subdural and subarachnoid effusions resulting from the rupture of a ventriculo-subarachnoid hydrocephalus either in a preexisting subdural effusion or between the dura and the external arachnoid leaf. Amongst these effusions from various aetiologies, the particular cases of the so-called infantile subdural haematomas and postmeningitic effusions are considered. Changes in the pathology and progress in the diagnostic field might explain why the classically described thick membranes are, actually, only exceptionally found.