A comparative study of chronic subdural hematoma in three age ranges: Below 40 years, 41–79 years, and 80 years and older

Abstract Objective To investigate clinical characteristics and outcomes of chronic subdural hematomas (CSDHs) in different age ranges. Patients and methods A retrospective collection of data from CSDH patients ≤40 years, 41–79 years, and ≥80 years of age between August 2011 and May 2017 was performed. The differences and similarities of clinical data and outcomes among three groups were analyzed. Results A total of 1118 CSDH patients were included. We found that 64.5% patients had arachnoid cyst/ventriculoperitoneal shunt in patients ≤40 years, 4.3% in the 41–79 years group, and 3.2% in the ≥80 years group ( P P P  =  0.001, B=2.831, Exp (B) = 16.970, 95% CI = 3.365–85.567). The history of antithrombotic drug was an independent risk factor of complications in patients of 41–79 years ( P  = 0.042, B =1.341, Exp (B) =3.823, 95% CI = 1.048–13.942) and patients of ≥ 80 years ( P  =  0.026, B=1.399, Exp (B) = 4.052, 95% CI = 1.178–13.933), while complications were also an independent risk factor contributing to the outcome in patients of 41–79 years ( P P  =  0.006, B=2.074, Exp (B) = 7.953, 95% CI = 1.791–35.313). In the ≤40 years group, all patients had a good outcome (MRS score 0–3), while 98.2% (851/867) of the cases in the 41–79 years group and 94.3% (149/158) of the cases in the ≥ 80 years group saw a good outcome ( P  =  0.001). Conclusions Our results clearly display the common and different clinical data of CSDH in all age ranges, which is crucial to improve the management and treatment of patients with CSDH.