Articles: subarachnoid-hemorrhage.
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Twenty-four patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage due to rupture of a supratentorial aneurysm underwent surgery within 72 hours after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Immediately after clipping of the aneurysm the patients were treated with intravenous nimodipine for at least 7 days and then received the drug orally for another week. Nine patients had a documented or probable intake of aspirin or other nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drug during the days preceding admission. ⋯ Thromboxane B2 concentrations were similar to those of four control patients not receiving nimodipine. In three patients who developed delayed ischemic dysfunction despite "therapeutic" nimodipine plasma concentrations, the thromboxane B2 levels were low or normal. Our present results do not support the idea that nimodipine exerts an effect on platelet function in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
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Disruption of local cortical blood flow (CBF) autoregulation and CO2 reactivity, or vasoparalysis, has been documented in humans after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Generally, the degree of vasoparalysis is related to the patient's clinical grade. Using intraoperative measurement of local CBF, we evaluated pressure autoregulation and CO2 reactivity in patients after SAH. ⋯ After aneurysm clipping, significant CBF changes (P less than 0.001) with PCO2 alteration occurred in control patients and those operated on more than 7 days after SAH. There was no significant change in CBF in patients operated on within 7 days after SAH. Changes in CBF reactivity to alteration of MABP were significantly larger in early operation patients than in other groups (P less than 0.008).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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The referral pattern of 334 patients admitted to a neurosurgical clinic with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was analyzed. Forty-nine percent of the patients were admitted after the day following the SAH. Failure of patients to seek prompt medical care was a cause of delay in 29 patients and of physician diagnostic errors in 95 patients. ⋯ A delay at the referring hospital was observed in 97 patients. Early intervention is important for the optimal management of patients with SAH. Educating the public, medical students, and physicians about the signs and symptoms of SAH and the importance of prompt therapy is likely to improve overall outcome after aneurysmal rupture.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Apr 1988
Enlargement of the third ventricle and hyponatraemia in aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Hyponatraemia following aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage is associated with an increased risk of cerebral infarction. Whether the development of hyponatraemia was related to enlargement of the third ventricle on the admission CT scan was investigated in a consecutive series of 133 patients who were seen within 72 hours of aneurysmal haemorrhage. ⋯ The significant relationship between enlargement of the third ventricle and hyponatraemia remained after adjustment for the amount of cisternal blood, but not after adjustment for the amount of intraventricular blood. These results suggest that the size of the third ventricle is an important but not the only factor in the relationship between acute hydrocephalus and hyponatraemia in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Mar 1988
Xanthochromia revisited: a re-evaluation of lumbar puncture and CT scanning in the diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage.
The CT and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings of 100 patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms were reviewed. Forty six percent of the 68 patients who had a lumbar puncture had blood stained CSF but with no xanthochromia. ⋯ It is concluded that it is blood stained CSF that is important in the diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), and not xanthochromia, and that a normal CT scan (EMI 1010) and the absence of xanthochromia in the CSF do not exclude a ruptured intracranial aneurysm. To diagnose SAH, it may be necessary to perform both investigations; the CT scan as the primary investigation in those patients in whom lumbar puncture is judged to be hazardous; the lumbar puncture as the secondary investigation in those patients with a normal CT scan.