Beneath a Tough Mother (Dura Mater) — Chronic Subdural Hematoma

The eminent neurologist Dr. Raymond Adams had the unenviable task of examining a prominent colleague who had become confused and dull over several weeks. He found grasp responses and mild weakness on the left side without a Babinski sign; percussed each side of the skull; and, while departing, decreed, “Chronic subdurals — they need to come out.” The residents in attendance swooned (this was just at the beginning of the era of computed tomography). But we pushed back on the basis of a report from Mt. Sinai Hospital: “In New York, they try steroids first.”1 “Well this is Boston, not . . .