CLINICAL PRESENTATION OF SPONTANEOUS INTRACRANIAL HEMORRHAGE

Objective: To determine the degree of association of various clinical features and/or risk factors with Spontaneous
intracranial hemorrhage in 100 cases.
Background: Spontaneous Intracranial Hemorrhage is the Spontaneous Pathological accumulation of blood in the
cranium. A distinction is made between intra-axial hemorrhage (blood inside the brain) and extra-axial hemorrhage
(blood inside the skull but outside the brain). When this event manifests in sudden onset of focal neurological deficit
that lasts for more than 24 hours it is known as Hemorrhagic stroke. Intracranial hemorrhage accounts for 8-13% of
all strokes and results from a wide spectrum of disorders. Intracranial hemorrhage is more likely to result in death or
major disability than ischemic stroke. Having a sound knowledge about the clinical presentation that point towards an
intracranial hemorrhage is very important. This study compared the clinical presentation of patients presenting with
intracranial hemorrhage and determined the reliability of each feature associated with this event.
Methods:This descriptive study was conducted on 100 patients of Spontaneous Intra-cranial Hemorrhage at Mardan
Medical Complex Teaching Hospital [MMCTH], Mardan from Jan 2012 to Oct 2012. An in-depth history and examination
was conducted in order to look for features that can be consistently linked with this clinical event.
Results: We found that vigilant history and clinical examination reveals strong affiliation between a few features and
this clinical event.
Conclusions: With a comprehensive history and methodical clinical examination is a strong affiliation of Old age,
Headache, vomiting, Hemiplegia, Hypertension and smoking was found with Spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage