Four patients presented with rare spinal subdural hematoma (SDH) occurring after intracranial aneurysm surgery and manifesting as postoperative back pain. Magnetic resonance imaging performed from 4 to 11 days after the operation showed acute or subacute thoracolumbar SDH. No patient had risk factors for bleeding at this site (e.g., lumbar puncture, coagulation abnormality). Overdrainage of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was performed for brain retraction during the operation in all four cases. Computed tomography performed during the postoperative period showed a suspicious tentorial subdural hemorrhage in Case 1 and an interhemispheric subdural hemorrhage in Case 3. All four patients received conservative management and their lumbago improved. We hypothesize that CSF hypotension due to overdrainage of CSF and downward migration of intracranial SDH under the influence of gravity were involved in the formation of spinal SDH.

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An 11-year-old girl with obstructive hydrocephalus developed akinetic mutism after treatment for hydrocephalus due to aqueductal stenosis by ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting. Bilateral chronic subdural hematomas developed about 2 months after insertion of the VP shunt and were evacuated. Postoperatively, the patient developed akinetic mutism, but her condition improved after administration of bromocriptine. Absence of abnormalities on dopamine transporter single photon emission computed tomography, lack of clinical response to levodopa treatment, and normal homovanillic acid concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid all indicated normal dopamine production. Pressure on the periventricular monoamine projections in the thalamus and hypothalamus without major dopamine deprivation in the striatum may have been the most important factors in the development of akinetic mutism in this patient.

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