[Spontaneous cerebral hematomas. Treatment and follow-up studies]

How to manage spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage has been in the past years a subject open to discussion. The therapeutic approach, medical or surgical, has constituted a question of debate for the neurosurgeon. The most recent experience, however, attempts to establish the clinical and neuroradiological criteria for medical treatment and clarify the indications, as well as the limitations of surgical treatment. The Authors present 84 cases of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage studied by both CT scan and cerebral angiography (October 1980-April 1985). The acute mortality of intracerebral hemorrhage was 17.8%. Determinant for the immediate prognosis was the level of consciousness and the volume of the hematoma. At follow-up, at a median of 3 years after intracerebral hemorrhage, total mortality was 30.9% and 48% had returned work.