Background and purpose:
Hematoma growth unrelated to aneurysmal rebleeding has been poorly studied, but is not a rare complication following endovascular embolization of ruptured cerebral aneurysms. The aim of this study is to elucidate the possible risk factors for this phenomenon.
Methods:
We included 101 consecutive patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) who underwent endosaccular embolization at our institution within 72 hours of symptom onset in this study. All endovascular procedures were conducted under intraprocedural systemic anticoagulation. Age, gender, hypertension, diabetes, preoperative antiplatelet or anticoagulation use, neurological grade, Fisher computed tomography group, location and size of the aneurysm, the grade of aneurysm occlusion, and timing of endovascular procedure were retrospectively analyzed to find the risk factors for hematoma growth.
Results:
This series included 32 men (31.7%) and 69 women (68.3%), and the mean age ± SD was 65.5 ± 14.0 years. The mean time ± SD from onset to endovascular procedure was 12.1 ± 14.0 hours. Following the procedure, hematoma growth unrelated to aneurysmal rebleeding occurred in 14 patients (13.9%), and 10 of the 14 patients required surgical removal of hematoma and/or ventriculostomy to control intracranial pressure. All 14 patients had an anterior circulation aneurysm and had Fisher group 3 or 4 SAH. Ultra-early embolization (conducted within 6 hours after onset), female gender, history of hypertension, and poor neurological grade (WFNS grades 4 and 5) were significant risk factors of hematoma growth (p < 0.05 for all) by the univariate logistic analysis. In multivariate analysis, ultra-early embolization (OR, 18.0; 95% CI, 3.26-338; p = 0.0002), and female gender (OR, 9.83; 95% CI, 1.73-187; p = 0.0067) were independent risk factors for this phenomenon. Anterior circulation aneurysm and Fisher group 3 or 4 SAH did not suit for the logistic regression model, but were found to be significant risk factors by chi-square test (p = 0.018 and 0.022, respectively).
Conclusions:
Ultra-early endovascular embolization for ruptured cerebral aneurysm under systemic anticoagulation increases the risk of growth of hematomas unrelated to aneurysmal rebleeding. In addition, women with anterior circulation aneurysm presenting with dense focal SAH or intracerebral hematoma are at higher risk for this phenomenon.