Apraxia and cerebral haemorrhage: the relationship between haematoma volume and prognosis

In this study, we examined twenty-five patients with left putaminal haemorrhage to investigate the relations between ideational apraxia (IA) and intracerebral haemorrhage. Apraxias were determined at 1 and 6 months after the stroke onset. Extension and volume of haematoma were examined with CT scan within 2 days of stroke onset. IA was present in 10 cases at 1 month and disappeared in 6 cases (transient IA) and persisted in 4 cases(persisted IA) at 6 months from the onset. Although the haematoma volume related to the existence of IA, there was no significant difference between transient and persistent IA. All three patients with the haematoma volume larger than 40 ml in the transient IA group were younger than 50 years old. All cases with persistent IA were older than 50 years old. Consequently, the existence of IA seems to be partially dependent on the haematoma volume which may cause the organic damage of subcortical white matter. However, patient's age is also important to determine the prognosis of IA. This maybe related to the nature of the haemorrhage and the mode of the onset. These factors remain to be determined.