Subdural hematoma and oral anticoagulant therapy.

In a retrospective study of the period 1959 to 1978, the role of anticoagulant therapy (ACT) in the development of subdural hematoma (SH) was investigated. Of 212 cases, 46 were receiving ACT, a proportion highly in excess of the frequency of ACT in the general population of the Leiden area. In this area, the occurrence of SH in patients receiving ACT was seven times as high in males and 26 times as high in females as that in the population not receiving ACT. The occurrence of SH in patients receiving ACT was about one case per 2,000 patient years for both sexes and all age groups over the age of 40 years.