Observations on 82 patients with extradural hematoma. Comparison of results before and after the advent of computerized tomography.

A consecutive, unselected series of 82 patients with epidural hematoma treated between 1973 and 1980 is presented. Forty-one patients were managed before the advent of computerized tomography (CT) and the other 41 after this neuroradiological method was available. Mortality and disability rates which were 29.2% and 31.7% during the pre-CT period decreased to 12.1% and 19.5%, respectively, with the aid of CT scanning. This technique allowed a more rapid and accurate diagnosis of the hematomas than angiography, and defined better the presence and the evolutional changes of the associated cerebral lesions. As a consequence, surgery has been more effectively planned and executed during the CT era.