Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage – General Information

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage – Symptoms

Neurological problems are probably the most important and delicate medical conditions because they involve the nervous system, responsible with the control of our body. It is very important to be aware of all the signs and symptoms of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage because if you notice them in an early stage, the complications may be less severe. The most common manifestations of this neurological medical condition are various and range from moderate to very dangerous ones, that can affect even the patient’s quality of life. The signs and symptoms are experienced by almost all the patients; some of them may accuse particular and unique symptoms, depending on how the immune system reacts. All the symptoms are characteristic for this type of health disorder help differentiate Subarachnoid Hemorrhage from other conditions.

The first alarming sign is a terrible thunderclap headache that develops over seconds to minutes; people describe it as the “worst ever, like being kicked in the head”. This awful pain pulsates towards the back of the head (the occiput).  Usually, apart from this characteristic headache, about one third of all patients deal with an asymptomatic Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. Some patients may accuse nausea and vomiting and only one in fifteen may have seizures. Other more common signs and symptoms include one or more of the following: dizziness, neck stiffness, loss of the papillary light reflex, intraocular hemorrhage, isolated dilatation of a pupil, signs of meningism, confusion, decreased level of consciousness or coma and pressure inside the skull (intracranial pressure). The oculomotor nerve may be affected.

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage – Treatment

Neurological disorders and especially Subarachnoid Hemorrhage can cause severe damage, leading to the death of the patient. Because the most important components of the nervous system are involved, the results of this type of medical condition are really worrying. An early diagnosis followed by an adequate treatment option may assure a full recovery in short period of time and minimum complications. Managing this type of neurological condition involves measures that aim to stabilize the patient’s health status using specific treatment options. For example, rebleeding must be prevented by obliterating the initial bleeding source. We advise you to contact your health care provider as soon as you start experiencing severe and sudden headaches that are worse than ever. He or she may guide you to a trained specialist in neurological disorders, called a neurologist.

When seeing a doctor, you will be asked about your signs and symptoms, your personal medical history and if you have suffered head injuries. In order to rule out other similar conditions and to differentiate Subarachnoid Hemorrhage from them, the health care provider will want to perform some additional tests. The diagnosis is generally based on a computerized tomography scan of the head and sometimes on lumbar puncture. This is a questionable disease that requires close and careful observation and monitoring. The prompt neurosurgical procedures and interventions may save the patient’s life. If the patient presents a large hematoma after a scan, and especially if he experiences a decreased level of consciousness or focal neurological signs and symptoms, the first treatment option is the surgical removal of the blood or any other occlusion in that area. There are cases in which the patient who suffers from Subarachnoid Hemorrhage also presents a cerebral aneurysm, after performing an angiography, and in these cases, there are two available treatment options that can include clipping and coiling.

These treatment options are usually applied to reduce the risk of bleeding from the same aneurysm. Clipping consists in opening the patient’s skull, locating the aneurysm and placing clips around its neck. In treating Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, it is very important to take a decision regarding the appliance of these two procedures, a decision that is generally based on the location of the aneurysm, its size and the general health status of the patient. Another way to treat Subarachnoid Hemorrhage is vasospasm, in which the patient’s blood vessels are constricted to restrict the blood flow. If the procedure is not applied on time, the disease can cause severe complications such as ischemic brain injury or even permanent brain damage. During this procedure, it is important that the doctor administrates Calcium Channel Blockers, medicines that help preventing the spasm of blood vessels from entering smooth muscle cells. These medicines can be applied in two ways, orally and intravenously. The most common oral drug that can be successfully applied is prescribed as Nimodipine. This kind of medicine helps improving any outcome of the condition and must be administrated in the first three to four days after the first hemorrhage.