title: [Pneumoencephalos: etiology, pathologic significance and diagnosis. Apropos of 13 observations].
abstract: Thirteen cases of pneumoencephalos attended at our hospital in a four-year period are reported. All the cases were men; mean age was 47.2 years. The most frequent cause was injury (seven cases) followed by surgical procedures (five cases); in one case, pneumoencephalos was secondary to barotrauma. In the initial period, the most frequent clinical features were impairment of level of consciousness and psychomotor agitation (84%), whereas in the established period, deep coma (Glasgow scale less than or equal to 7) predominated in 69% of patients. Only 16% of patients complained of headache. The most frequent localization of gas was in subdural space (54% of cases) followed by subarachnoid space (23% of cases). Twenty-three percent of patients presented tension pneumoencephalos. With respect to distribution of gas, 53% of patients presented pneumatocele, 38% of patients had pneumoencephalos, and 15% presented a laminar distribution of the gas. Pneumoencephalos is usually associated to a high mortality rate; 53% of our patients died. In the postsurgical group, mortality rate was 60% and in the posttraumatic group, mortality rate was 43%.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nolla Salas
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Balaguer Martínez
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carrasco Gómez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Llovet Tàpies
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Solé Llenas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011007:Pneumocephalus / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
vernacular_title: Neumoencéfalos: etiología, significado patológico y diagnóstico. A propósito de 13 observaciones.