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Don't ignore bumps on head

   
  

Added At:  2012-04-16 9:17 PM

   Last Updated At: 2012-04-16 9:17 PM

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AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

WASHINGTON: A bump on your head could lead to a permanent disability or cognitive deficits if not attended in time, says a case study.


According to the case study, when Irene Gatti de Leon slipped on the ice and bumped her head, she wasn’t too concerned.

Two months later, de Leon began to experience weakness in her right leg and right arm while they were visiting their daughter. She made an urgent appointment with the Loyola University Medical Centre neurology professor Jose Biller, a fellow native from Uruguay, who she knew.

Biller ordered an immediate MRI scan, which showed a large subdural hematoma — a mass of blood on the surface of the brain. With the hematoma compressing the brain, de Leon was in imminent danger of suffering permanent paralysis or cognitive deficits, similar to disabilities caused by strokes, said a university statement.

Biller referred de Leon to Loyola neurosurgeon Douglas Anderson, who stayed late to perform an emergency surgery. Anderson drilled two holes in her skull and drained the hematoma, which was about two inches long and 1.5 inches thick. De Leon has made a full recovery.

Subdural hematomas are triggered by head injuries that cause blood vessels

between the surface of the brain and its outer covering (the dura) to stretch and tear. They usually are caused by severe head injuries that cause bleeding, which rapidly fills the brain area. But less severe head injuries can cause chronic subdural hematomas. These slow bleeds may not cause symptoms for days or weeks.

De Leon’s case “is an

excellent illustration of why patients should not ignore neurological symptoms,” Biller said.

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