Hydrocephalus after Subarachnoid Bleeding

Abstract

Out of a group of patients suffering from a spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage 27 patients were checked by computer-assisted tomography (CAT), 23 patients by radioisotope cisternography, and 21 patients by both diagnostic procedures. The results were correlated with the clinical observations. The flow of the CSF was normal in 7 patients (30.43%), and pathological in 16 patients (69.56%). Of the 27 patients checked by CAT, 23 (85.18%) showed a ventricular dilatation, which in 17 patients (62.96%) was not connected with a corresponding increase of the cisterns of the convexity. The clinical symptoms of hydrocephalus, the degree of impairment of the circulation of the CSF determined by radioisotope cisternography and the ventricular diameter as determined by CAT correlated well.

CT Showing Early Ventricular Dilatation after Subarachnoidal Hemorrhage

“…The degree of increase in CSF-pressure is related to the severity of the bleeding and the clinical state of the patient. Altered CSF hydrodynamics after SAH may lead to later hydrocephalus (5,26), but ventricular dilatation has also been reported in the acute stage. The large variation in frequencies reported must be explained partly by the different criteria used for determination of hydrocephalus or ventricular dilatation.…”