[Cerebro-vascular emergencies: cerebral and meningeal hemorrhage]

Jacques Philippon1

  • 1Service de Neurochirurgie, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47-83 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris.

Intracerebral haemorrhage is the most dramatic, even if not the most frequent among cerebrovascular emergencies. However the improved treatment of arterial hypertension has decreased its frequency. Modern neuroradiological methods have led to an easier diagnosis, but the best choice for treatment (medical or surgical) is still debated. Decision must be based upon different factors, the most important of which are clinical condition volume, and location of haemorrhage. If the general prognosis has been improved by the transfer to specialized Units, wherein such are available, the benefit of surgery, while indispensable in some cases, has yet to be demonstrated by prospective studies. The problem is far different in subarachnoïd haemorrhage due to rupture of a vascular malformation: the necessity of a rapid treatment by surgery or embolization is largely admitted except for those patients in a bad clinical conditions.

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