Approach to Imaging in Patients with Spontaneous Intracranial Hemorrhage

Early Detection of Underlying Cavernomas in Patients with Spontaneous Acute Intracerebral Hematomas

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Early identification of the etiology of spontaneous acute intracerebral hemorrhage is essential for appropriate management. This study aimed to develop an imaging model to identify cavernoma-related hematomas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients 1-55 years of age with acute (≤7 days) spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage were included. Two neuroradiologists reviewed CT and MR imaging data and assessed the characteristics of hematomas, including their shape (spherical/ovoid or not), their regular or irregular margins, and associated abnormalities including extralesional hemorrhage and peripheral rim enhancement. Imaging findings were correlated with etiology. The study population was randomly split to provide a training sample (50%) and a validation sample (50%). From the training sample, univariate and multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify factors predictive of cavernomas, and a decision tree was built. Its performance was assessed using the validation sample.

RESULTS

Four hundred seventy-eight patients were included, of whom 85 had hemorrhagic cavernomas. In multivariate analysis, cavernoma-related hematomas were associated with spherical/ovoid shape (P < .001), regular margins (P = .009), absence of extralesional hemorrhage (P = .01), and absence of peripheral rim enhancement (P = .002). These criteria were included in the decision tree model. The validation sample (n = 239) had the following performance: diagnostic accuracy of 96.1% (95% CI, 92.2%-98.4%), sensitivity of 97.95% (95% CI, 95.8%-98.9%), specificity of 89.5% (95% CI, 75.2%-97.0%), positive predictive value of 97.7% (95% CI, 94.3%-99.1%), and negative predictive value of 94.4% (95% CI, 81.0%-98.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

An imaging model including ovoid/spherical shape, regular margins, absence of extralesional hemorrhage, and absence of peripheral rim enhancement accurately identifies cavernoma-related acute spontaneous cerebral hematomas in young patients.

Primary and secondary non-traumatic intra-cerebral haemorrhage: MRI findings

Intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 10-30% of strokes, being the form with the worst prognosis. The causes of cerebral haemorrhage can be both primary, mainly hypertensive and amyloid angiopathy, and secondary, such as tumours or vascular lesions. Identifying the aetiology of bleeding is essential since it determines the treatment to be performed and the patient's prognosis. The main objective of this review is to review the main magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of the primary and secondary causes of ICH, focusing on those radiological signs that help guide bleeding due to primary angiopathy or secondary to an underlying lesion. The indications for MRI in the event of non-traumatic intracranial haemorrhage will also be reviewed.

Observation on the Nursing Effect of the Whole Process in Patients with Severe Intracranial Hemorrhage

Objective. The goal of this study was to look at the clinical impact of the entire process of nursing care for patients with severe cerebral hemorrhage. Method. From January 2018 to December 2019, the clinical data of 160 patients with severe cerebral hemorrhage who were hospitalized to our hospital were reviewed retrospectively. They were separated into two groups based on their admission: routine and complete procedure. The routine group used routine emergency care, the whole process group was provided first aid care with whole process nursing. The diagnosis and treatment time, the success rate of emergency care, the incidence of adverse events, and the complaint rate were compared between the two groups. Results. The treatment time, emergency examination time, and preoperative rescue time of emergency patients in the whole process group were significantly shorter than those in the conventional group, with statistically significant differences (all $P<0.05$ ). The rescue success rate of emergency patients in the whole process group was 95.00% (76/80), and the rescue success rate of emergency patients in the routine group was 83.75% (67/80); the difference was statistically significant ( ${\chi }^2=4.378$ , $P=0.034$ ). The complaint rate of emergency patients in the whole process group was 2.50% (2/80), while that in the routine group was 8.75% (7/80), with statistically significant difference ( ${\chi }^2=4.732$ , $P=0.024$ ). The incidence of total nursing adverse events was 6.25% (5/80) in the whole process group and 17.50% (14/80) in the routine group; the difference was statistically significant ( ${\chi }^2=5.011$ , $P=0.027$ ). Conclusion. The implementation of whole process nursing care for patients with severe intracranial hemorrhage can shorten the time-consuming first aid for patients with intracranial hemorrhage. And it also can improve the rescue success rate of patients and reduce the incidence of adverse events and complaints, which represents a significant clinical application effect.

Nontraumatic brain parenchymal hemorrhage: The usual suspects and more

Brain parenchymal hemorrhage is a common neuroimaging finding in an emergency room. It is considered primary in the absence of an underlying lesion or coagulopathy. Secondary hemorrhages are caused by various structural causes and pathologies. The goals of imaging are to identify the hematoma, assess factors that have prognostic significance, assess associated complications, identify an underlying etiology whenever possible, and guide therapeutic decisions. The review provides an illustrative review of various etiologies of non-traumatic brain parenchymal hemorrhage and their imaging evaluation.

Surgical Interventions for Supratentorial Intracranial Hemorrhage: The Past, Present, and Future

Spontaneous supratentorial intracranial hemorrhage is extremely disabling and is associated with high mortality. Primary treatment for patients with this disease process is maximal medical management with blood pressure control and correction of clotting disorders due to comorbid conditions or medications. Over the past decade, significant strides have been made in understanding the benefits of surgical intervention in the treatment of intracranial hemorrhage through multiple clinical trials. In this article, we review the evolution of surgical treatments beginning with the STICH trials, discuss new developments with minimally invasive surgical strategies, and provide a brief update regarding ongoing trials and future directions in the treatment of spontaneous supratentorial intracranial hemorrhage.

Circulating TIMP-1 is associated with hematoma volume in patients with spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are proteolytic zinc-endopeptidases regulated by tissue Inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMPs). We evaluated the potential of MMPs and TIMPs as clinical tools for Intracranial Haemorrhage (ICH). Spontaneous non-traumatic ICH patients were recruited from two hospitals: Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra (CHN = 29) and Vall d´Hebron (VdH = 76). Plasmatic levels of MMP-1, -2, -7, -9, -10 and TIMP-1 and their relationship with clinical, radiological and functional variables were evaluated. We further studied the effect of TIMP-1 (0.05-0.2 mg/Kg) in an experimental tail-bleeding model. In CHN, TIMP-1 was associated with admission-hematoma volume and MMP-7 was elevated in patients with deep when compared to lobar hematoma. In VdH, admission-hematoma volume was associated with TIMP-1 and MMP-7. When data from both hospitals were combined, we observed that an increase in 1 ng/ml in TIMP-1 was associated with an increase of 0.14 ml in haemorrhage (combined β = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.08-0.21). Likewise, mice receiving TIMP-1 (0.2 mg/Kg) showed a shorter bleeding time (p < 0.01). Therefore, the association of TIMP-1 with hematoma volume in two independent ICH cohorts suggests its potential as ICH biomarker. Moreover, increased TIMP-1 might not be sufficient to counterbalance MMPs upregulation indicating that TIMP-1 administration might be a beneficial strategy for ICH.

Neuroimaging of Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 10% to 20% of strokes worldwide and is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Neuroimaging is indispensable for rapid diagnosis of ICH and identification of the underlying etiology, thus facilitating triage and appropriate treatment of patients. The most common neuroimaging modalities include noncontrast computed tomography (CT), CT angiography (CTA), digital subtraction angiography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The strengths and disadvantages of each modality will be reviewed. Novel technologies such as dual-energy CT/CTA, rapid MRI techniques, near-infrared spectroscopy, and automated ICH detection hold promise for faster pre- and in-hospital ICH diagnosis that may impact patient management.

MR Imaging in Neurocritical Care

How to cite this article: Patra A, Janu A, Sahu A. MR Imaging in Neurocritical Care. Indian J Crit Care Med 2019;23(Suppl 2):S104–S114.