Current Management of Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

The diagnosis of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is most difficult in patients who are in good clinical condition with a small hemorrhage, especially when a ruptured aneurysm might not be considered, or if a computed tomographic (CT) scan is not obtained, or if when a CT is obtained, the findings are subtle and missed by an inexperienced reviewer. All acute onset (thunderclap) headaches should be considered ruptured aneurysms until proven otherwise. Treatment begins with immediate control of pain and blood pressure, placement of an external ventricular drain (EVD) in poor-grade patients and those with acute hydrocephalus on CT scanning, administration of antifibrinolytic tranexamic acid, and then repair of the aneurysm with either surgical clipping or endovascular techniques as soon as the appropriate treatment team can be assembled. After securing the aneurysm, aSAH patient treatment is focused on maintaining euvolemia and a favorable systemic metabolic state for brain repair. A significant and aneurysm-specific threat after aSAH is delayed arterial vasospasm and resulting cerebral ischemia, which is detected by vigilant bedside examinations for new-onset focal deficits or neurological decline, assisted with daily transcranial Doppler examinations and the judicious use of vascular imaging and cerebral perfusion studies with CT. The management of diagnosed symptomatic vasospasm is the prompt induction of hypertension with vasopressors, but if this fails to reverse deficits quickly after reaching a target systolic blood pressure of 200 mmHg, endovascular angioplasty is indicated, providing CT scanning rules out an established cerebral infarction. Balloon angioplasty should be considered early for all patients found to have severe angiographic vasospasm, with or without detectable signs of ischemic neurological deterioration due to either sedation or a pre-existing deficit.