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Stroke. 1998;29:1802-1805

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(Stroke. 1998;29:1802-1805.)
© 1998 American Heart Association, Inc.


Original Contributions

Recurrent Primary Cerebral Hemorrhage

Frequency, Mechanisms, and Prognosis

Alejandra González-Duarte, MD; Carlos Cantú, MD; Jose Luis Ruíz-Sandoval, MD; Fernando Barinagarrementeria, MD

From the Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Mexico City, Mexico.

Correspondence to Fernando Barinagarrementeria, MD, Stroke Clinic, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Insurgentes Sur 3877, Tlalpan, 41269, Mexico City, Mexico. E-mail fbarinaga{at}compuserve.com


*    Abstract
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Background and Purpose—The frequency of recurrent primary cerebral hemorrhage (RPCH), mainly in cases related to hypertension, has been considered low. This study investigated the frequency, mechanisms, and prognosis of RPCH.

Methods—We evaluated 359 patients with neuroimaging evidence of cerebral hemorrhage and selected 22 with RPCH.

Results—Five patients (23%) were older than 70 years at the first cerebral hemorrhage. Mean ages at the first and second hemorrhages were 60 and 63 years, respectively. Risk factors included hypertension (86%), diabetes (27%), and tobacco and alcohol use (each 14%). Hypocholesterolemia was demonstrated in 35% of the patients. The most common pattern of recurrent bleeding was ganglionic-ganglionic, mainly related to hypertension. Overall mortality was 32%. Forty-one percent and 27% of patients, respectively, had incapacitating and nonincapacitating sequelae; 2 of the latter had RPCH with a lobar location. Ganglionic-ganglionic hemorrhage was associated with a poor prognosis; otherwise, this pattern was uncommon in patients with nonincapacitating sequelae. Analysis of the control of risk factors, primarily hypertension after the first cerebral hemorrhage, disclosed that 56% of patients did not gain subsequent control.

Conclusions—Rebleeding after a first primary intracerebral hemorrhage is not uncommon. The main topographic pattern of bleeding, ganglionic-ganglionic, is likely the result of hypertension; the less common lobar-lobar pattern probably results from amyloid angiopathy.


Key Words: cerebral hemorrhage • hypertension • amyloid • prognosis


*    Introduction
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Nontraumatic cerebral hemorrhage is an important cause of death and disability among adults. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for approximately 10% of stroke cases.1 The incidence of ICH is higher among individuals of Asian and African-American descent.2 3 4 A recently published study has also suggested a high frequency of cerebral hemorrhage in the Ecuadoran population.5 The causes of ICH are multiple,6 and the frequency of the various etiologies are age dependent. In people younger than 45 years the most common cause is arteriovenous malformation7 ; in individuals older than 70 years it is amyloid angiopathy8 ; and in the intermediate age groups hypertension is the primary cause.9 The frequency of recurrence of cerebral hemorrhage, mainly in those cases related to hypertension, is considered very low10 ; however, relevant information is scarce,11 12 13 14 15 16 17 primarily from Asian countries11 15 16 and, less often, from Europe.12 13 The goal of the present study was to determine the frequency, mechanisms, and prognosis of recurrent primary cerebral hemorrhage (RPCH).


*    Subjects and Methods
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Between March 1989 and September 1997, of 1737 patients with stroke we evaluated 497 (28.6%) patients with neuroimaging evidence of cerebral hemorrhage. We excluded 22 patients with cerebral hemorrhage that resulted from intracranial aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, bleeding diathesis, trauma, intracranial brain tumor, and anticoagulant use. Among the remaining 475 patients, 83 (17%) died in the acute stage as a result of cerebral hemorrhage, and 33 surviving patients were lost to follow-up. Among the remaining 359 surviving patients, 31 (8.6%) had recurrent cerebral hemorrhage and 9 were excluded because the neuroimaging studies of the first cerebral hemorrhage were unavailable for analysis. Twenty-two patients were considered eligible for final analysis.

In each case, age at the time of the first and second hemorrhages, sex, risk factors, the location of each cerebral hemorrhage, and the time period between initial and recurrent cerebral hemorrhages were analyzed. Clinical outcome was determined at hospital discharge as follows: (1) total recovery; (2) the presence of mild sequelae, with which the patients could work, although they might have mild complaints; (3) the presence of severe sequelae, with which patients had physical limitations and serious neurological symptoms that made them unable to engage in everyday activities; and (4) death.


*    Results
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We studied 22 patients (17 men [77%] and 5 women [23%]) with RPCH. The mean age at the time of the first cerebral hemorrhage was 60 years (range, 28 to 77 years); the mean age of the men was 58 years and that of the women was 64 years. Five (23%) patients were older than 70 years at the time of the first cerebral hemorrhage. The mean age at the time of the second hemorrhage was 63 years (range, 28 to 84 years). The mean interval between the first and second cerebral hemorrhages was 39 months (range, 1 month to 12 years). Risk factors included hypertension in 19 patients (86%), diabetes in 6 (27%), tobacco use in 3 (14%), and alcohol use in 3 (14%). Hypocholesterolemia was demonstrated in 35% of the patients.

The locations of the first cerebral hemorrhages were as follows: basal ganglia (putamen, caudate nucleus, thalamus) in 13 patients (59%), lobar region in 6 (27%), cerebellum in 2 (9%), and brain stem in 1 (5%). During the follow-up period, 4 cases of RPCH (18%) occurred in the ipsilateral structures and 18 (82%) in the contralateral structures. The locations of the second cerebral hemorrhages were the basal ganglia in 16 patients (73%) and the lobar region in 6 (27%). The recurrence pattern in each case is shown in Table 1Down. During a mean follow-up of 55 months, the recurrent stroke rate was 2/100 patients per year.


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Table 1. Patient Ages and Locations of First and Recurrent Cerebral Hemorrhages

The mean age at which the first ganglionic hemorrhage occurred was 57.8 years; the first lobar hemorrhage, 67 years; recurrent ganglionic hemorrhages, 62 years; and recurrent lobar hemorrhage, 65 years. The average time to recurrent bleeding based on the location of the first cerebral hemorrhage was 39 months in the ganglionic region, 46 months in the lobar region, and 28 months in other locations. Eight patients (36%) had a recurrence within the first year after the initial hemorrhage. The pattern of recurrent bleeding is shown in Table 2Down; the most common pattern was ganglionic-ganglionic.


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Table 2. Characteristics of Patterns of Recurrence

The overall mortality in this series was 32%. Nine patients (41%) had incapacitating sequelae, and 6 (27%) had nonincapacitating sequelae (2 of these patients had a recurrent cerebral hemorrhage with a lobar location). Ganglionic-ganglionic hemorrhage was associated with 85% of the deaths and almost 50% of incapacitating sequelae; otherwise, this pattern was uncommon in patients with nonincapacitating sequelae.

Analysis of the control of risk factors, mainly hypertension after the first cerebral hemorrhage, disclosed that in 12 patients (56%) there was no subsequent control of risk factors. Two patients developed more than 2 cerebral hemorrhages (patients 18 and 19, Table 1Up).


*    Discussion
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*Discussion
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Compared with the extensive information regarding short-term outcome in patients with cerebral hemorrhage, few reports have documented the frequency of RPCH, which has been considered uncommon. Douglas and Haerer10 did not find a case of recurrence among 35 surviving patients with cerebral hemorrhage. Similar results were published by Fieschi et al,18 who analyzed the 1-year outcome in 69 patients. Neuropathological studies have estimated the incidence of recurrent ICH as being higher than 14%.19 In 7 published clinical series,11 12 13 14 15 16 17 the frequency of RPCH was an average of 3.8% (156 cases of RPCH among 4028 patients) (Table 3Down). In the present series, the frequency of RPCH was 6%, which is similar to findings reported by Chen et al11 in Taiwan (5.3%) and Maruishi et al15 in Japan (5.9%) and higher than those reported by Lee et al14 in Korea (2.7%). The frequency of cerebral hemorrhage as a cause of stroke in our hospital registry was 28.6%, a number considerably higher than those in stroke registries from countries such as the United States (11%)1 and Switzerland (11%),20 similar to those from Taiwan (35%)21 and Korea (32%),14 and lower than those reported in Japan.2


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Table 3. Series of Recurrent Primary Cerebral Hemorrhage

The mean patient age in our series was 63 years. The most common risk factor was hypertension, which was present in almost 90% of patients. The frequency of hypertension was 62% to 70% in the European series12 13 and 100% in the Asian series.11 14 15 16 This high frequency of hypertension explains why the most common pattern of recurrence was ganglionic-ganglionic. Because most hypertensive hemorrhage occurs in the basal ganglia,22 it is reasonable to attribute this bleeding location to hypertension. This pattern of recurrence also was the most common in the Asian series. A recurrent lobar-lobar pattern was present in only 18% of patients, a frequency between those reported by European (58% and 45%)12 13 and Asian authors (0 to 7%).11 14 15 16

It is probable that a higher number of patients without hypertension and recurrent lobar hemorrhage had amyloid angiopathy as a cause of bleeding. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is a well-known cause of recurrent ICH.23 The incidence of amyloid angiopathy characteristically increases with age. The mean age of patients with ICH resulting from amyloid angiopathy in most reported series is over 70 years.24 ICH secondary to amyloid angiopathy is not associated with hypertension and is usually lobar in distribution because amyloid angiopathy has a predilection for the cortical arteries.24 This finding can explain the higher frequency of lobar hemorrhage in the series reported by Neau et al12 and Passero et al,13 which included older patients. In the present series, the mean age of the patients with a ganglionic-ganglionic recurrence pattern was 60 years compared with 70 years for those with the lobar-lobar recurrence pattern. In all patients with hypertension, some of the primary or recurrent hemorrhages involved the basal ganglia. In the series of Passero et al,13 only 25% of patients with the lobar-lobar recurrence pattern had hypertension.

The global mortality rate in our series was 32%, higher than in the series reporting first cerebral hemorrhages (20 to 23%).25 26

The prognosis for patients with RPCH was worse than for those with nonrecurrent bleeding. Only 27% of patients had good functional recovery compared with 37% to 55% of patients with a first cerebral hemorrhage.27 28 In the series of Neau et al,12 two thirds of patients could walk after RPCH. In the present series, recurrence with the lobar-lobar pattern was associated with the best prognosis.

In conclusion, our study shows that rebleeding after a first primary ICH is not an uncommon event. The main topographic pattern of bleeding, ganglionic-ganglionic, is likely the result of hypertension; the less common lobar-lobar pattern is probably the result of amyloid angiopathy. The frequency and mechanisms of RPCH appear to be different among Asian and Europeans, reflecting the similarities of the present series to the Asian series.


*    Acknowledgments
 
We thank Carlos S. Kase, MD, Boston, Mass, for his suggestions and helpful criticism of this article.

Received April 6, 1998; revision received May 26, 1998; accepted May 26, 1998.


*    References
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up arrowAbstract
up arrowIntroduction
up arrowSubjects and Methods
up arrowResults
up arrowDiscussion
*References
 
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