[Transient neurologic deficit preceding intracerebral hemorrhage. Physiopathological hypotheses]

Seventeen out of 238 cases (7%) of intracerebral hemorrhage were preceded by transient neurological deficit. In two cases, intracerebral hemorrhage and transient neurological deficit were thought to be due to amyloid angiopathy, this diagnosis was confirmed at autopsy in one case. In one case, intracerebral hemorrhage and transient neurological deficit were due to a cavernoma. In the other 14 cases, hypertension was the major risk factor. In 3 of them, CT-scans made after the transient neurological deficit but before the intracerebral hemorrhage showed deep small hypodensities suggestive of lacunas. The mechanisms of transient neurological deficit preceding intracerebral hemorrhage are reviewed.