Subarachnoid hemorrhage at an inner-city hospital

We evaluated the clinical manifestations, treatment, and outcome of a group of inner-city patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Twenty-one patients had surgical therapy and sixteen patients were managed with supportive measures. Patients were graded according to their clinical condition on initial presentation. Those with a favorable outcome tended to be in better condition initially. The surgical mortality was 14% and decreased substantially for the group of patients in optimal clinical condition. Cerebral vasospasm was more frequent with a poor clinical state and was associated with an unfavorable outcome. Inner-city patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage seemed to fare no worse than the general population.