Bleeding inside the brain. If its volume is large, it can cause damage distant areas in the brain subjected to compression due to an increase in pressure inside the cranium.
The bleeding can be spontaneous (occurs more in arterial hypertension, diabetes, smokers) or secondary to trauma.
The signs and symptoms are a rapidly progressive headache. Depending on where the bleeding occurs it can be associated with loss of strength or sensitivity, speech disorders, visual disorders and impaired consciousness.
The diagnosis is suspected through a questioning and a physical examination. A tomography and/or MRI scan is required to confirm it.
Analgesics to treat the headache associated to the increase in pressure and anti-convulsants are usually required.
- Guy Rordorf. Colin McDonald. Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: Pathogenesis, clinical features, and diagnosis. UpToDate. Dec04, 2013.
- Guy Rordorf. Colin McDonald. Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: Treatment and prognosis. UpToDate. May 21, 2014.
- Broderick J, Connolly S, Feldmann E, et al. Guidelines for the management of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage in adults: 2007 update: a guideline from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Stroke Council, High Blood Pressure Research Council, and the Quality of Care and Outcomes in Research Interdisciplinary Working Group. Stroke 2007; 38:2001.
- Abid KA, Vail A, Patel HC, et al. Which factors influence decisions to transfer and treat patients with acute intracerebral haemorrhage and which are associated with prognosis? A retrospective cohort study. BMJ Open 2013; 3:e003684.
- J Claude Hemphill, III. Nicholas Phan. Traumatic brain injury: Epidemiology, classification, and pathophysiology. UpToDate. Apr 13, 2013.
