Background. It is well established that the probability of occurrence of acute subdural hematomas in traumatic situations increases with age, since the main cause of such hematomas is the mechanical failure of cerebral blood vessels known as bridging veins. This research aims to determine whether there is an effect of age on the mechanical properties of these cerebral vessels, because previous reported studies were conflicting.

Methods. This study used mechanical tests blue of cerebral bridging veins from post-mortem human subjects. In particular, a series of in vitro tensile tests were performed on a balanced sample of bridging veins from different human subjects.

Findings. The mechanical parameters measured from the tests were analyzed by means of regression analysis looking for age related effects. The results show that there is a significant effect on both the ultimate strength, maximum stress and strain that the specimens can withstand. The quantitative analysis shows reductions of nearly 50% in ultimate stress, and almost 35% in ultimate strain.

Interpretation. Mechanical deterioration of the mechanical strength of cerebral blood vessels seems to be a major factor involved in the increase of frequency of acute subdural hematoma in elderly people in a wide range of life-threatening traumatic situations.