Review of treatment of symptomatic cerebral vasospasm with nimodipine

A number of randomized studies have shown the efficacy of nimodipine, administered either orally or intravenously, for the prevention of vasospasm and its clinical consequences in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage following rupture of an intracranial aneurysm. It remained to be proven that nimodipine could also act on already established vasospasm. This was the aim of a multicentre study carried out in France between 1984 and 1986. Of a total of 127 patients with known clinically and/or angiographically diagnosed vasospasm, 73 (group N) underwent intravenous treatment with nimodipine and 54 (group P) with placebo within 24 hours of the onset of vasospasm. There was shown to be a significant reduction in mortality and morbidity in group N (33%) compared with group P (52%). Where vasospasm was the sole determining factor (63% of all patients), the decrease in mortality and severe morbidity rate was even greater in group N (11%) compared with group P (31.5%). These results can be viewed as confirmation of the efficacy of nimodipine in treating the ischaemic consequences of established vasospasm.