More than 90% of patients reached the neurosurgical center within 12 hours of their first hospital admission after SAH; 70% of all aneurysms were clipped or coils were inserted within 24 hours of the first hospital admission. Given the protocol, only one rebleed occurred later than 24 hours after the first hospital admission. Despite this strong emphasis on early intervention, however, a cluster of 27 very early rebleeds still occurred in the control group within hours of randomization into the study, and 13 of these patients died. In the tranexamic acid group, six patients rebled and two died. A reduction in the rebleeding rate from 10.8 to 2.4% and an 80% reduction in the mortality rate from early rebleeding with tranexamic acid treatment can therefore be inferred. Favorable outcome according to the GOS increased from 70.5 to 74.8%. According to TCD measurements and clinical findings, there were no indications of increased risk of either ischemic clinical manifestations or vasospasm that could be linked to tranexamic acid treatment. Neurosurgical guidelines for aneurysm rupture should extend also into the preneurosurgical phase to guarantee protection from ultraearly rebleeds. Currently available antifibrinolytic drugs can provide such protection, and at low cost. The number of potentially saved lives exceeds those lost to vasospasm.

Sudden onset headache is a common condition that sometimes indicates a life-threatening subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) but is mostly harmless. We have performed a prospective study of 137 consecutive patients with this kind of headache (thunderclap headache=TCH). The examination included a CT scan, CSF examination and follow-up of patients with no SAH during the period between 2 days and 12 months after the headache attack. The incidence was 43 per 100 000 inhabitants >18 years of age per year; 11.3% of the patients with TCH had SAH. Findings in other patients indicated cerebral infarction (five), intracerebral haematoma (three), aseptic meningitis (four), cerebral oedema (one) and sinus thrombosis (one). Thus no specific finding indicating the underlying cause of the TCH attack was found in the majority of the patients. A slightly increased prevalence of migraine was found in the non-SAH patients (28%). The attacks occurred in 11 cases (8%) during sexual activity and two of these had an SAH. Nausea, neck stiffness, occipital location and impaired consciousness were significantly more frequent with SAH but did not occur in all cases. Location in the temporal region and pressing headache quality were the only features that were more common in non-SAH patients. Recurrent attacks of TCH occurred in 24% of the non-SAH patients. No SAH occurred later in this group, nor in any of the other patients. It was concluded that attacks caused by a SAH cannot be distinguished from non-SAH attacks on clinical grounds. It is important that patients with their first TCH attack are investigated with CT and CSF examination to exclude SAH, meningitis or cerebral infarction. The results from this and previous studies indicate that it is not necessary to perform angiography in patients with a TCH attack, provided that no symptoms or signs indicate a possible brain lesion and a CT scan and CSF examination have not indicated SAH.

Mobile CT scanning in the NICU is safe. It minimizes the risk of physiological deterioration and technical mishaps linked to intrahospital transport, which may aggravate secondary brain injury. The time that patients have to remain outside the controlled environment of the NICU is minimized, and the staff's workload is decreased.

The results obtained in this series closely reflect the overall management results of this disease and support the conclusion that surgical complications causing a poor outcome can be estimated on a large population-based scale. Intraoperative aneurysm rupture was the most common and most devastating technical complication that occurred. Support was found for a more liberal use of temporary clips early during dissection, regardless of the experience of the surgeon. Temporary regional interruption of arterial blood flow should be a routine method for aneurysm surgery on an everyday basis. A random occurrence of difficult intraoperative problems was clearly shown, and this factor of unpredictability, which is present in any preoperative assessment of risk, strengthens the case for recommending neuroprotection as a routine adjunct to virtually every aneurysm operation, regardless of the surgeon's experience.

A study of the overall management of ruptured posterior fossa aneurysms was conducted over a 1-year period (1993) in five neurosurgical centers in Sweden, serving a population of 6.93 million people. Forty-nine cases were identified and treated. One-third of the patients were in the seventh or eighth decade of life. Good overall management outcomes at 6 months were achieved in 30 cases (61%). The overall mortality rate was 27%. Patients with Hunt and Hess Grades I and II had a good overall recovery rate of 87%. On admission, 69% of the patients were assigned Hunt and Hess Grades III to V. The impact on patient outcomes of the intraoperative difficulties encountered, especially in the basilar tip area, is stressed. The authors found that delayed operation is not warranted in most cases. Frequent devastating rebleeding was observed among patients not offered early aneurysm clipping and the operative results were not at significant variance between the early and late surgical groups. Only 50% of the patients scheduled for delayed surgery ultimately made a good recovery, whereas 72% of patients scheduled for early operation did so. The data demonstrate that overall management results with posterior fossa aneurysms, comparable to achievements with supratentorial lesions, are within the reach of modern strategies, even in centers not specializing in these problems.

Thirteen percent of Sweden's population (8.6 million) is aged 70 years or older, and this percentage is expected to increase over the coming decades. We have traced every diagnosed case of subarachnoid hemorrhage in patients older than 70 years in a well-defined catchment population of 953,000 individuals. The age-specific incidence for this group was 16 per 100,000 individuals per year, corresponding to 2.3 per 100,000 inhabitants per year. In most recent population-based surgical series on ruptured aneurysms, few patients in this age group are included, corresponding to only 20 to 25% of the actual number of patients, as shown in this study. Surgery is, in many cases, refused to the "elderly" because of age. However, patients who are neurologically intact after the bleed and who are without severe intercurrent diseases are potential candidates for surgical treatment. In our series, surgery yielded good results in two-thirds of 76 patients aged 70 to 74 years who returned to independent living in good mental condition. Among matched patients being refused surgery because of age, 75% suffered morbidity and mortality, with more than half of the patients having died within the 1st 3 months. When calculated for the entire population of Sweden, our data show that a 14% increase in the number of individuals achieving complete remedy from aneurysm rupture each year can be expected with more active therapy among the elderly. Most of these patients are between 70 and 74 years old. In the 9th decade of life, aneurysm surgery probably best remains an exception.

Misdiagnosed warning episodes cause greater loss of lives and higher morbidity on a population basis than does delayed ischemic complications from vasospasm in aneurysmal SAH. Teaching programs focused on local physicians have a profound impact on outcome at low cost.

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