Bilateral Subdural Haematoma and CPAP Use: A Possible Association

• Main Authors: Beatrice Khater, Vicky Kassouf, Georges Haddad, Roula Hourany
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SMC MEDIA SRL 2020-05-01
• Series: European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine
• Subjects: headache; subdural haematoma; obstructive sleep apnoea; cpap
• Online Access: https://www.ejcrim.com/index.php/EJCRIM/article/view/1602

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common condition usually treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). No reports have linked it to an acute subdural haematoma. A 54-year-old white man who had hypertension well controlled with an angiotensin II receptor blocker, presented with a 2-week history of occipital headache with no other focal neurological symptoms. The headache began 12 days after he had started using CPAP for OSA. A brain MRI performed 2 weeks later showed bilateral subdural haematomas which were chronic on the left and sub-acute/acute on the right. Since the patient was clinically stable with no focal neurological deficits, he received prednisone for 3 weeks and was followed up with consecutive CT scans demonstrating gradual regression of the haematomas. This is the first report showing that subdural haematomas could be linked to CPAP use.