Primary Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Pediatric Patients: Causes, Characteristics, and Outcomes
Abstract Background: Primary intraventricular hemorrhage is a rare type of stroke and little is known its causes, characteristics and outcomes in children. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics of patients aged one month to 21 years during seven consecutive years with primary intraventricular hemorrhage. Primary intraventricular hemorrhage was defined as bleeding confined to the ventricular system without parenchymal or subarachnoid hemorrhage involved. Results: Of the included eighteen patients, 55.6% were female, and the mean age was 13.8 ± 6.0 years. The most common symptoms on presentation were headache (77.8%) and vomiting (33.3%). Fifteen patients (83.3%) were diagnosed with known etiologies, including arteriovenous malformations (66.7%), Moyamoya disease (11.1%), and aneurysms (5.6%). Idiopathic PIVH was diagnosed in only 3 patients (16.7%). Fifteen patients (83.3%) underwent surgical intervention, and 3 patients (16.7%) received conservative treatment. Four patients (28.6%) had an unfavorable outcome at discharge and unfavorable was observed in 3 patients (16.7%) at the 3-month follow-up. Higher Graeb score was associated with an unfavorable outcome both in short-time and long-time follow-up. Conclusions: Most primary intraventricular hemorrhage patients were diagnosed with arteriovenous malformations in the pediatric population. Specific surgical treatment of underlying etiologies should be required to increase clinical improvement. The children with higher Graeb score at admission tended to have poor early and late outcome. Keywords: Primary intraventricular hemorrhage; pediatric; surgery; vascular disorders.