Blood constituents trigger brain swelling, tissue death, and reduction of glucose metabolism early after acute subdural hematoma in rats

Outcome from acute subdural hematoma is often worse than would be expected from the pure increase of intracranial volume by bleeding. The aim was to test whether volume-independent pathomechanisms aggravate damage by comparing the effects of blood infusion with those of an inert fluid, paraffin oil, on intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), local cerebral blood flow (CBF), edema formation, glucose metabolism ([18F]-deoxyglucose, MicroPET), and histological outcome. Rats were injured by subdural infusion of 300 μL venous blood or paraffin. ICP, CPP, and CBF changes, assessed during the first 30 mins after injury, were not different between the injury groups at most …