Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a kind of hemorrhagic stroke with high mortality and morbidity. Although the preoperative diagnosis, surgical clipping, endovascular treatment, and intensive care have progressed in recent years, the overall prognosis of aSAH patients remains poor. In 2011, the Neurocritical Care Society organized an international, multidisciplinary consensus conference addressed the critical care management of SAH. In 2012, the American Stroke Association (AHA) updated the guidelines of diagnosis and treatment of aSAH published in 2009. In 2013, European Stroke Organization established the guideline for management of intracranial aneurysms and SAH. In 2014, the Korean Society of Interventional Neuroradiology (KSIN) published clinical practice guideline for the management of ruptured and unruptured aneurysms. The guideline for diagnosis and management of aSAH for Chinese patients has been drafted in this year. Thus, the diagnosis and management of aSAH is a hot topic in neurosurgery. This editorial summarizes the above mentioned guidelines and focuses on the progress and update of these guidelines. In this article we discuss the advantage and disadvantage of those imaging techniques, the pros and cons of surgical clipping and endovascular treatment.
Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Neurosurgical Procedures ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Prognosis ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; diagnosis ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy of 3% hypertonic saline solution with 20% mannitol in treatment of intracranial hypertension in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

METHODSAn alternating treatment protocol was used to compare the efficacy of 160 mL 3% hypertonic saline solution (HSS) with 150 mL 20% mannitol for episodes of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The dependent variables were the extent and duration of reduction of increased ICP after each event.

RESULTSBoth 3% HSS and 20% mannitol rapidly decreased the ICP in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (P <0.01). No difference between two medications in the extent of duration of ICP and reduction of action (P >0.05).

CONCLUSION3% HSS should be considered as the first-line osmotic drug in treatment of intracranial hypertension in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Humans ; Intracranial Hypertension ; drug therapy ; Mannitol ; therapeutic use ; Saline Solution, Hypertonic ; therapeutic use ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; drug therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Forty-three patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage entered a nimodipine trial in the Department of Neurosurgery, Yonsei university to determine the efficacy of the drug in preventing vasospasm and to evaluate the tolerability of this calcium channel blocker. Thirty-three patients completed the study. Treatment was started within four days of initial bleeding and continued for two weeks. Delayed neurological deficits developed in seven of the 33 patients-four from vasospasm, two from elevated intracranial pressure, and one from recurrent bleeding. The incidence of symptomatic vasospasm which developed after calcium channel blocker (nimodipine) treatment was 12.1%, which is about one third of the rate experienced at our department during the past five years (33.2%). Twenty-five patients were operated on without surgical mortality and the morbidity rate was 8%. Side effects due to nimodipine treatment were reversible and insignificant. This study suggests that treatment with a calcium channel blocker that has a selective cerebrovascular effect may prevent or reduce the incidence of delayed ischemic deficits in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Clinical Trials ; Human ; Ischemic Attack, Transient/prevention & control* ; Nimodipine/therapeutic use* ; Prospective Studies ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/drug therapy*

OBJECTIVE: To report effects of the pre-procedural rehydration for reduce thromboembolic complications in acute phase aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage coil embolization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2009 to December 2013, 190 patients with ruptured aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) treated by coil embolization at our institution were consecutively enrolled in this study. In period 1 (from January 2009 to June 2012, n = 122), pre-procedural fluid was not supplied. In period 2 (from July 2012 to December 2013, n = 68), depending on the state of the patient's body weight and degree of dehydration, intravenous fluid was started with infusion of approximately 7 mL/kg of 0.9 percent saline (minimum 300 to maximum 500 mL) over 30 minutes. RESULTS: A total of 190 patients were hospitalized due to aSAH and underwent coil embolization for five years between January 2009 and December 2013. Of these, 122 patients underwent coil embolization based on the old protocol before June 2012 (period 1) and 68 underwent the procedure based on the new protocol after the period 2. Neck size, width, maximum diameter of the aneurysm and procedure time were associated with procedure related thromboembolic complications in entire periods (multivariate analysis, p < 0.05, in respectively). The frequency of thromboembolism showed a drastic decrease in period 2 (re-hydration period), from 18.0% (22/123) to 4.4% (3/67), which was also statistically significant (p = 0.007, Chi-square test). CONCLUSION: Pre-procedural administration of a sufficient dose of fluid considering the patient's dehydration reduced the frequency of thromboembolism in cases of emergency coil embolization for ruptured aneurysm, without increasing additional specific complications.
Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Ruptured* ; Body Weight ; Dehydration ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Emergencies ; Fluid Therapy* ; Humans ; Neck ; Rehydration Solutions ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Thromboembolism

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Brain/metabolism* ; Male ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/drug therapy* ; Thyroxine/pharmacology*

PURPOSE: Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is associated with poor outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention. However, CI-AKI has rarely been evaluated within the neurovascular field. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and clinical implication of CI-AKI after coil embolization in patients with an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2005 and March 2016, 192 patients who underwent coil embolization were enrolled in this study. CI-AKI was defined as an increase from baseline serum creatinine concentration of >25% or >0.5 mg/dL within 72 hours after coil embolization. A poor clinical outcome was defined as a score of ≥3 on the modified Rankin Scale at one-year post-treatment. RESULTS: A total of 16 patients (8.3%) died as a result of medical problems within one year. CI-AKI was identified in 14 patients (7.3%). Prominent risk factors for one-year mortality included CI-AKI [odds ratio (OR): 16.856; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.437–82.664] and an initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score ≤8 (OR: 5.565; 95% CI: 1.703–18.184). A poor clinical outcome was associated with old age (≥65 years) (OR: 7.921; 95% CI: 2.977–21.076), CI-AKI (OR: 11.281; 95% CI: 2.138–59.525), an initial GCS score ≤8 (OR 31.02; 95% CI, 10.669–90.187), and a ruptured aneurysm (p=0.016, OR: 4.278) in posterior circulation. CONCLUSION: CI-AKI seems to be an independent predictor of the overall outcomes of aSAH after endovascular treatment.
Acute Kidney Injury/chemically induced ; Acute Kidney Injury/diagnostic imaging ; Acute Kidney Injury/etiology ; Acute Kidney Injury/mortality ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aneurysm/complications ; Aneurysm/diagnostic imaging ; Aneurysm/therapy ; Angiography ; Contrast Media/adverse effects ; Embolization, Therapeutic/adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/complications ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/diagnostic imaging ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/therapy ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

The authors report 2 cases of metastatic choriocarcinoma associated with intracranial hemorrhage. One of them had intracranial hemorrhage on the right frontal lobe and the other one developed intracranial hemorrhage and enhancing mass on the parietal lobe revealed by admission brain CT. They had rebled intracranially 2 and 3 times, respectively. Even though the patients had received intracranial decompressive operations, they eventually died of intracranial rebleeding or hemothorax, respectively. These tumors generally occur in women of childbearing age and commonly produce signs and symptoms of subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, or brain tumor. Metastatic choriocarcinoma of the brain is a curable lesion. Cure is geerally achieved by extirpation of the tumor, chemotherapy, and irradiation of the site of the cerebral metastasis. The two cases in this report have ben unsuccessful in their management.
Brain ; Brain Neoplasms ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Choriocarcinoma* ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Frontal Lobe ; Hemothorax ; Humans ; Intracranial Hemorrhages* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Parietal Lobe ; Pregnancy ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Diagnosis, Differential ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Syndrome ; Vasodilator Agents ; therapeutic use

Neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) leading to cardiopulmonary dysfunction is a potentially life-threatening complication in patients with central nervous system lesions. This case report describes a 28-yr woman with life-threatening fulminant NPE, which was refractory to conventional respiratory treatment, following the rupture of an aneurysm. She was treated successfully with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), although ECMO therapy is generally contraindicated in neurological injuries such as brain trauma and diseases that are likely to require surgical intervention. The success of this treatment suggests that ECMO therapy should not be withheld from patients with life-threatening fulminant NPE after subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Adult ; Brain/radiography ; Decompressive Craniectomy ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm/complications/*diagnosis ; Pulmonary Edema/*diagnosis/etiology/therapy ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/etiology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The claims data of the Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) system can be useful in stroke research. The aim of this study was to validate the accuracy of hospital discharge data used for NHI claims in identifying acute stroke and use of thrombolytic therapy. METHODS: The hospital discharge data of 1,811 patients with stroke-related diagnosis codes were obtained from Jeju National University Hospital (JNUH) and Seoul Medical Center (SMC). Three algorithms were tested to identify discharges with acute stroke [ischemic stroke (IS), intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), or subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)]: 1) all diagnosis codes up to nine positions, 2) one primary diagnosis and one secondary diagnosis, and 3) only one primary diagnosis code. Reviews of medical records were considered the gold standards. RESULTS: Overall, the degree of agreement (kappa) was higher for algorithms 1 and 2 than for algorithm 3, and the sensitivity and specificity of the first two algorithms for IS and SAH were both >90%, with almost perfect agreement (kappa=0.83-0.84) in the JNUH data set. Regarding ICH, only algorithm 1 yielded an almost perfect agreement (kappa=0.82). In the SMC data set, almost perfect agreement was found for both ICH and SAH in all three algorithms. In contrast, the three algorithms yielded a range of agreement levels, though all substantial, for IS. Almost perfect agreement was obtained for use of thrombolytic therapy in both data sets (kappa=0.91-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Discharge with hemorrhagic stroke and use of thrombolytic therapy were identified with high reliability in administrative discharge data. A substantial level of agreement was also obtained for IS, despite variation between the algorithms and data sets.
Data Collection ; Dataset ; Diagnosis ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Medical Records ; National Health Programs* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Seoul ; Stroke* ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Thrombolytic Therapy*