In order to estimate the contribution of platelet-activating factor (PAF) to the formation of chronic subdural haematomas (CSH), we measured plasma PAF and anti-PAF antibody levels in head-injured patients with and without CSH and normal volunteers. Plasma PAF and anti-PAF IgG levels were higher in patients with CSH than in patients without CSH or in normal volunteers. Furthermore, plasma PAF and anti-PAF IgG levels increased in a time-dependent manner over the first 35 days following head injury. These data suggest that PAF may be involved in the generation of CSH.

Platelet activating factor (PAF) content and PAF-acetylhydrolase (PAFAH) activity were measured in the plasma and haematoma of 34 chronic subdural haematoma (CSH) patients. The plasma PAF level in patients with CSH was higher than that in healthy controls. Although there was no correlation between the plasma PAF levels and the interval between the onset of symptoms and the day of sampling, namely, the interval after bleeding, the haematoma PAF level gradually decreased according to the interval after the onset of symptoms. There was no difference between plasma PAFAH activity in patients with CSH and that in healthy controls, and haematoma enzyme activity gradually increased correlated with the interval between the onset of symptoms and surgery. In addition, the localization of PAF in haematoma capsules was histochemically determined. PAF was solely localized to the peri-sinusoidal vessels in the outer membrane of haematoma capsules. Based on these biochemical and histochemical studies, we speculated that PAF may play a role in the development of chronic subdural haematomas.