CASE REPORT article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Neurosurgery
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2025.1671194
Spontaneous rupture of an arachnoid cyst combined with chronic subdural hematoma: a case report and review of the literature
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Clinical Medicine, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
- 2Weifang People's Hospital, Weifang, China
- 3Weifang People's Hospital Department of Neurosurgery, Weifang, China
- 4Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
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This case report discusses a 16-year-old male with a previously diagnosed left fronto-tem-poro-parietal arachnoid cyst (AC) who developed progressively worsening intermittent head-aches. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a spontaneous chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH), despite no history of trauma or bleeding disorders. The cyst, discovered incidentally three years prior, had been asymptomatic until this event; hence, no interval cranial computed tomography (CT) or MR imaging was performed. The patient underwent burr-hole irrigation and drainage under general anaesthesia. Postoperative scans confirmed complete resolution of the hematoma and a significant reduction in the cyst size, with no recurrence of the cyst at the six-month follow-up. This case, supported by a systematic review of 28 recent studies (2020–2025), highlights that AC can spontaneously rupture, leading to CSDH. Burr-hole irrigation surgery proves to be a safe and efficient intervention, emphasizing the need for long-term monitoring in AC patients to manage potential hemorrhagic complications promptly.
Keywords: Arachnoid cyst, subdural hematoma, Burr-hole, Spontaneous, Hemorrhage
Received: 30 Jul 2025; Accepted: 16 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Han, Wang, Sun and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zengwu Wang, wangzengwu70@sina.com
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