Treatment of sympathomimetic induced intraventricular hemorrhage with intraventricular urokinase

Wendy C Ziai1, Antigone Triantaphyllopoulou, Alexander Y Razumovsky

  • 1Division of Neurosciences Critical Care, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. weziai@jhmi.edu

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) occurred in a 32-year-old man following the use of both ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Cerebral angiography and transcranial Doppler studies showed changes suggestive of vasculitis. We describe the management and investigations of a unique case of IVH. This patient was treated with ventriculostomy and intraventricular urokinase (UK). A favorable outcome was obtained with independent function at 10 weeks post hemorrhage. The use of intraventricular thrombolysis for drug-induced IVH has not previously been reported, although it has been shown to be a safe and potentially beneficial intervention.

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