Posterior fossa epidural hematoma. A report of three cases diagnosed with computed tomography

CT demonstrated posterior fossa epidural hematoma in three patients with head trauma in whom this diagnosis was not clinically apparent. No patient was in stupor or coma and no patient experienced a lucid interval. Only one patient had signs referable to the posterior fossa. Two patients had occipital skull fracture disclosed by plain radiographs. CT revealed a unilateral biconvex hematoma in two cases, and a bilateral hematoma with supratentorial extension in the third. All patients underwent suboccipital craniectomy and recovered. Therapeutic success in these cases was facilitated by early CT and the rapid disclosure of the unsuspected posterior fossa lesions. CT showing contiguous hematoma below and above the tentorium cerebelli after posterior head trauma is highly suggestive of epidural hematoma arising from the posterior fossa.