[Subarachnoid hemorrhage as initial manifestation of polyarteritis nodosa]

The polyarteritis nodosa (P.A.N.) is frequently responsible of neurological disorders, both central and peripheral. However an involvement of the Central Nervous System is unusual at the beginning of the disease. Such particular case is reported having occurred in a man aged 49, struck by a subarachnoidal hemorrhage, which was an initial symptom of P.A.N. The differential diagnosis is not always easy in such cases, since the clinical findings could be mistaken for those of a subarachnoidal hemorrhage due to a malformed vessel rupture.