Endovascular Treatment for Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage with Neurogenic Pulmonary Edema in the Acute Stage

Severe neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) can occur in a variety of brain insults, including subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), and severe case of NPE can cause devastating consequences. But the literature on the treatment strategy about aneurysmal SAH with NPE is very scant. We present that SAH patients with severe NPE, who were treated first by embolization of aneurysm followed by insertion of lumbar spinal drainage, had comparatively good outcome.

We present 12 consecutive cases of aneurysmal SAH with NPE in the acute stage, which were treated by endovascular treatment between April 2002 and December 2012. We classified the patients according to the Hunt and Hess grading system as follows: grade-3 (1 patient), grade-4 (4 patients), and grade-5 (7 patients). All patients needed respiratory management, with the assistance of a ventilator, and underwent endovascular treatment for the ruptured aneurysms within 72 hours from onset. For all the patients, immediately after the endovascular treatment, we performed lumbar spinal drainage.

The pulmonary edema disappeared rapidly after respiratory management and endovascular treatment. The outcomes were as follows: good recovery (GR; 3 patients), moderate disability (MD; 4 patients), severe disability (SD; 3 patients), and death (D; 2 patients). Five patients (42%) developed pneumonia, and we postponed extubation until recovery from pneumonia. The cause for severe disability and death was symptomatic vasospasm and primary brain damage. No patients had rebleeding from ruptured aneurysms.

Endovascular treatment for ruptured aneurysm and placement of lumbar spinal drainage is an excellent treatment option for severe SAH with NPE.