Surgical management of spontaneous posterior fossa hematoma: predictors of the neurological outcome

To detect demographic, clinical, and radiological predictors of patient outcomes and prognosis in spontaneous cerebellar hematoma patients that may guide accurate decision making. This retrospective study was conducted on 45 patients with spontaneous cerebellar hematoma who underwent surgical treatment. The patient data including demographics (age, gender), preoperative consciousness at the time of admission, medical comorbidities (HTN, DM), radiological findings (location, volume, and diameter of the cerebellar hematoma, hydrocephalus, compression of the fourth ventricle, effacement of the quadrigeminal cistern, intraventricular hematoma, tight posterior fossa, and brain stem compression), and treatment methods were collected and correlated with prognosis. Outcome assessment was done using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), classified into good outcome (favorable result; GOS > 4) and poor outcome (unfavorable result; GOS < 4). There was a statistically significant correlation (p = 0.030) between the time to surgery and GOS, with more favorable outcomes in patients who underwent early surgery compared to late surgery. Unfavorable outcomes were detected in patients with higher Taneda grade and Kirollos grade, and both were statistically significant (p = 0.001). The presence of hydrocephalus and/or brainstem compression had a statistically significant (p < 0.001) negative impact on outcomes. Patients with extensive IVH had an unfavorable outcome compared to other patients (p = 0.016). The mortality rate in our study was 28.9%. Surgical management of spontaneous cerebellar hematoma is challenging. Many factors influence the appropriate decision making and surgical outcome. Predictors of an unfavorable outcome include the level of consciousness at admission, delayed time to surgery, a higher grade of 4th ventricular effacement (Kirollos) and quadrigeminal cistern effacement (Taneda), extensive IVH, hydrocephalus, and brainstem compression (statistically significant). There was no statistical significance regarding gender, age, hematoma volume, or hematoma diameter in relation to an unfavorable outcome.