Extradural hematoma from trauma to midline skull tumour

Mohamed Abdelrahman Abdalla1, Zayid Omer1, Saad Hassan Bashir2

  • 1Neurosurgery, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

We present a case of extradural hematoma resulting from a relatively minor closed injury over the vertex where a plasma cell tumour had invaded the superior sagittal sinus. The patient underwent an emergency craniotomy and evacuation of the hematoma. Hemostasis and prevention of recollection of the hematoma were hampered by the erosion of the sagittal sinus making its direct repair impossible. This was achieved by hitching up the dura lateral to the sinus to become its lateral wall reinforced by hemostatic agents. The patient made a full recovery. Malignant tumours invading the dural venous sinuses and eroding the skull can cause life-threatening intracranial bleeding after relatively minor trauma.