[Intracerebral haemorrhage in young adults]

Loubna Majhadi1, Jean-Louis Mas

  • 1Service de neurologie et unité neurovasculaire, centre hospitalier Sainte-Anne, 75674 Paris Cedex 14, France. I.majhadi@ch-sainte-anne.fr

La Revue Du Praticien
|October 31, 2013
PubMed

In Western countries, less than 5 % of strokes occur in adults less than 50 years. Most of these strokes are cerebral infarctions, but 10 to 30 % are intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH). The causes of ICH in young adults are wider than in the elderly. Vascular malformations and lipohyalinosis of small vessels weakened by hypertension constitute the most frequent causes. Management of ICH is an emergency and these patients should be hospitalized in specialized units. Compared to cerebral infarction the prognosis of patients with ICH is poor with a risk of death between 40 % and 50 % during the first year. Survivors are left with severe disability in 20 % of cases. The risk of recurrence of ICH in young adults depends of the underlying cause.

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