[Three consecutive operations for chronic subdural haemorrhage in an 87-year-old man].
We describe a man aged 87 with a subdural haemorrhage which needed to be evacuated three times over an eight-week period. After the third operation the patient's physical and cognitive performance increased markedly, even though his performance had been assessed as "normal for his age" during his illness. The case illustrates the impressive regenerative capacity of the aged brain, the challenge in differentiating between disease symptoms and age-associated functional decline, the difficulties in deciding when to operate on an old patient, and the importance of functional assessments in health care for the elderly.
Møinichen
Einar
E
Avdeling for rehabilitering og geriatri, Medisinsk klinikk, Aker universitetssykehus, Oslo.
Wyller
Torgeir Bruun
TB
Gjølberg
Tor
T
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D006408:Hematoma, Subdural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed