Increased blood coagulation is associated with poor neurological outcome in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) have demonstrated increased blood coagulation which is thought to contribute to delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) and to a worse outcome. Therefore, we sought to determine whether this increased blood coagulation, detectable with rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM), was associated with DCI and neurological outcome.

We conducted a prospective observational study of 60 consecutive adult aSAH patients. ROTEM's EXTEM and FIBTEM assays and D-dimer were analyzed at admission and post-bleed days (PBDs) 2-3, 4-5, 7-8, and 11-12. ROTEM's clot formation time (CFT) represents the stabilization of the clot, and the maximum clot firmness (MCF) the maximum clot strength. Glasgow Outcome Scale extended (GOSe) at three months determined the neurological outcome.

DCI incidence was 41.7%. EXTEM-CFT was significantly shorter in patients with unfavorable neurological outcome (GOSe 1-4) on PBDs 4-5 and 7-8, p < 0.05, respectively. FIBTEM-MCF was significantly higher in patients with unfavorable neurological outcomes on PBD 4-5 (p < 0.05), PBD 7-8 (p < 0.05), and PBD 11-12 (p < 0.05). EXTEM-CFT decreased, and FIBTEM-MCF rose during the study period in all patients. Patients with unfavorable neurological outcome had a higher D-dimer at all studied time points, p < 0.05. No difference was found in the ROTEM parameters or D-dimer when assessing patients with and without DCI.

Patients were in a state of increased blood coagulation after aSAH, with those with unfavorable neurological outcome being more coagulable than those with favorable outcome. However, increased blood coagulation was not associated with DCI.

gov, NCT03985176.