Mesencephalic haematoma: case report with autopsy study.

A 70-year-old hypertensive woman suffered sudden onset of bilateral blepharoptosis. Within a few hours she developed focal signs attributable to a lesion of the mesencephalon, and a stuporous state, from which she did not recover. Neuropathological examination showed a mesencephalic haematoma, but no arteriovenous malformation. A review of reported cases suggests that mesencephalic haematomas have a worse prognosis when they occur in aged hypertensive patients, as compared with younger normotensive patients, in whom they are probably related to arteriovenous malformations.