Intracerebral hemorrhage after thrombolytic therapy managed with ventricular drainage

Darweesh Al-Khawaja*, Guy D. Eslick, Stephen J. Fuller, Kevin Seex

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) after thrombolytic treatment for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a serious complication causing significant morbidity and mortality. Drainage of the haematoma by craniotomy is associated with poor outcome. We present a patient who received tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) for acute myocardial infarction; he subsequently developed an ICH with ventricular system extension. The patient was managed by insertion of an external ventricular drain. The hemorrhage was successfully evacuated by insertion of the external ventricular drain. This was unexpected as ICH are usually viscous and difficult to aspirate in the acute phase. This suggests that ICHs following thrombolytic therapy remain liquid for up to 10 h. External ventricular drains can be used in the management of patients with ICH complicating thrombolytic therapy for management of acute myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke. This reduces the need for craniotomy and associated morbidity and mortality.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)898-900
Number of pages3
JournalJournal of Clinical Neuroscience
Volume14
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sep 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Acute intracerebral hemorrhage
  • External ventricular drain
  • Thrombolytic therapy
  • Tissue plasminogen activator

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