Carotid angiography in cranio-cerebral trauma

Abstract

The present communication is an attempt to emphasise the safety, precision and value of carotid angiography in the investigation of head injuries. Extracerebral avascular spaces and other evidence of collections of haematomas in the extradural and subdural spaces were documented and analysed in 40 patients with cranio-cerebral trauma. Associated injuries of the skull and pulping of the brain are considered in the interpretation of the angiograms. The roentgen appearances are studied in the light of the clinical presentation for a clinical correlation. Literature on the subject is briefly reviewed and discussed with emphasis on the extra and subdural (acute and chronic) haematomas and the unusual subdural (acute) hygromas. The value of this investigation was demonstrated in a patient with clinically suspected intracranical neoplasm, in whom the diagnosis of chronic subdural haematoma was confirmed preoperatively by carotid angiography, thus giving a hopeful prognosis to the patient.