Delayed Brainstem Hemorrhage Secondary to Mild Traumatic Head Injury: Report of Case with Good Recovery.

BACKGROUND: In clinical practice, secondary traumatic brainstem hemorrhage often develops during descending transtentorial herniation due to raised intracranial pressure, which is known as Duret hemorrhage. Although usually considered a fatal and irreversible event, in rare circumstances, victims of Duret hemorrhage could gain favorable outcomes. To our knowledge, secondary brainstem hemorrhage due to mild traumatic head injury without descending transtentorial herniation has never been reported. In this report, we present a case of delayed brainstem hemorrhage secondary to a relatively mild traumatic brain injury that experienced a rapid and favorable recovery.

CASE DESCRIPTION: A 48-year-old man was admitted for a motorcycle accident. Head computed tomography 2 hours after the accident revealed mild subarachnoid hemorrhage at the interpeduncular cistern. In the following in-hospital days, he experienced 2 episodes of mental state deterioration and increase of the SAH and hematoma extension to the brainstem. A digital subtraction angiography was performed with no positive finding of vascular anomaly and evident cerebral vasospasm. He experienced a rapid and favorable recovery. His Glasgow Outcome Scale score was 5 at 3 months' follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: We present a rare case of secondary traumatic brainstem hemorrhage that experienced a rapid and good recovery process. The mechanism is still obscure to us and needs to be further studied. Although traumatic brainstem hemorrhage usually means a fatal event to most of the patients, some patients may experience a favorable recovery. This rare circumstance should be stressed in prognosis consultation and clinical management of these kinds of patients.