[ECG changes in subarachnoid hemorrhage of non-traumatic origin]

The assessment of ECG in patients with nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhages demonstrated 5 characteristic patterns of ECG change. They were shown to be secondary to cerebral pathology. Preoperative heart rhythm changes are not stable or life-threatening, whereas intraoperative arrhythmias, high-grade ventricular extrasystoles in particular, may prove fatal. Preoperative ECG changes, including "pseudoinfarction" ones, do not affect cardiac output or arterial blood pressure, so that no special treatment is required, nor is surgery contraindicated.