1
Clinical Correspondence
Embolization of Middle Meningeal Artery for the Treatment
of Headaches Induced by Chronic Subdural Hematoma:
A Case Report
Pouya Entezami, MD; Emad Nourollahzadeh, MD; John Dalfino, MD
Key words: subdural hematoma, endovascular, embolization, middle meningeal artery
(Headache 2019;0:1-4)
Headaches caused by chronic subdural hema-
tomas (CSDHs) in patients who are otherwise neu-
rologically intact are difficult to manage. It is often
challenging to commit mildly symptomatic patients
to craniotomy – the gold standard in management.
We report the case of a patient with small CSDH
managed by embolization of the middle meningeal
artery (MMA), resulting in immediate symptom-
atic improvement and resolution of the hematoma
over time. Arterial embolization is a relatively quick
and safe procedure that may allow for a minimally
invasive treatment option in patients who may not be
great candidates for open cranial surgery.
The management of CSDH can be challeng-
ing, especially in patients who are asymptomatic or
with mild complaints. Headache is often an associ-
ated symptom of these injuries.
1
Trephination is the
first recorded treatment for headaches, performed in
order to free evil spirits from a patient’s head.
2
While
burr-hole irrigation or craniotomy for hematoma
evacuation remains the primary treatment option for
CSDH, recurrence rates remain high.
3,4
The morbid-
ity and risks associated with surgery often make this
a poor option for those with benign symptoms such as
mild headaches. Endovascular management of CSDH
via embolization of the MMA has yielded promising
results.
3
However, most reports in the current litera-
ture discuss patients who underwent MMA emboli-
zation in combination with surgical evacuation, often
after recurrence of the hematoma after initial surgical
evacuation. We present a patient with persistent head-
aches secondary to CSDH managed by MMA embo-
lization alone.
An 84-year-old male presented several days
after a fall from standing with progressively worsen-
ing headaches over the course of 1 week. Computed
tomography (CT) imaging revealed a 9-mm right fron-
tal CSDH, with 4 mm of midline shift (Fig. 1). While
his neurological examination remained intact, he had
become progressively more reliant on narcotic ther-
apy for headache control during his hospitalization.
Headache doi: 10.1111/head.13519
© 2019 American Headache Society Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN 0017-8748
Conflict of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest
concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the
findings specified in this paper.
Financial support: None.
From the Department of Neurosurgery, Albany Medical College,
Albany, NY, USA (P. Entezami, E. Nourollahzadeh, and
J. Dalfino).
Address all correspondence to P. Entezami, Department of
Neurosurgery, Albany Medical College, 47 New Scotland Ave,
MC-10, Albany, NY 12208-3479 USA, email: entezap@amc.edu
Accepted for publication February 8, 2019.