MEDICAL MAILBOX.

"Let knowledge grow from more to more and thus be human life enriched."--Anonymous

The Night Reverend Schuller Could Have Died

When our friend Dr. Robert Schuller bumped his head as he folded his large frame into a small European car in the Netherlands, he didn't think much about the incident. But, after developing a headache, he canceled his appointments and went to his hotel room for the night ... alone.

He didn't show up for an early morning meeting, and his concerned associates discovered him unconscious on the floor of his hotel room balcony. Doctors in the Amsterdam hospital found that Dr. Schuller had suffered a potentially fatal subdural hematoma. His family, who flew the Atlantic to be with him, marveled that a simple bump on the head could be a matter of life and death. The doctors told Mrs. Schuller that had her husband been 30 minutes later to the hospital, it might have been too late.

Fortunately, the Dutch neurosurgeons were able to release the blood in his skull, and Dr. Schuller recovered fully, as all who watch his weekly "Hour of Power" program can attest.

A subdural hematoma occurs when blood accumulates between the tough, leathery covering of the brain called the dura, shown in the small illustration, and the brain itself. Any blow to the head that tears small "bridging" veins under the dura becomes critical when the leaking blood takes up space and compresses delicate brain tissue. Left untreated, the blood can cause enough pressure to push the cerebellum down into the spinal column. Death may ensue.

After someone receives a bump on the head, it is a good idea to keep the person awake, or to at least wake the sleeping individual every hour to make sure a coma isn't developing. Symptoms of a subdural hematoma include severe headache, dizziness, vomiting, confusion, increased size of one pupil, or sudden weakness in an arm or leg. Breathing pattern changes also can occur.