Fatal aneurysmal rupture: a survey of 60 grade-5 cases

The purpose of the present study was to describe the clinical course of patients with Grade-5 ruptured aneurysms (WFNS grading). Among 250 consecutive cases of ruptured aneurysms, 60 Grade-5 patients were reviewed retrospectively, consisting of 24 males and 36 females with an average age of 58 years. Thirty-two patients were directly transferred to our clinic, while the remaining 28 were referred from other clinics. Duration from rupture to arrival at our clinic was within 1 hour in 25 cases and within 2 hours in 43 cases. Systolic blood pressure on admission was 186 mmHg on average. Obvious misdiagnoses by primary physicians were made in 7 cases. Ventricular drainage and clipping/trapping of the aneurysms were performed in 7 and 25 cases, respectively. Forty-nine patients died and the remaining 11 survived. One made a good recovery, 1 was moderately disabled, 8 severely disabled, and 1 in a vegetative state. The prognosis for Grade-5 patients is well known as being extremely poor, which also was the case in our series. Early referral and early surgical intervention have not changed this poor prognosis. Possible improvement of the outcome of this group might be expected by 1) public health and primary physician education on aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage, and 2) control of blood pressure during referral.