[Mistaken diagnosis in subarachnoid bleeding. A study of 154 cases].
In 154 patients with spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage owing to a ruptured aneurysm, the way by which the diagnosis was arrived at was checked. The correct diagnosis was missed initially in 52 patients (33.8%) and the subarachnoid hemorrhage was misinterpreted most frequently as systemic infection, brain tumor, disorder of cerebral blood flow or cervical spinal syndrome. The proportion of false diagnosis was especially high in younger patients with an initially less severe illness. Freely practicing physicians without specialist neurological training missed the diagnosis in 33.3%, free practicing specialists for nervous diseases and neurologists in 17.4%, doctors at smaller hospitals in 16.3% and doctors at the Neurologic Division, University Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Homburg/Saar in 6.5%. The time up to correction of a wrong initial diagnosis was up to seven days in 34 patients (65.4%), up to 14 days in 13 patients (25.0%) and between 15 and 27 days in five patients (9.6%).
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine; D008875:Middle Aged; D013038:Specialization; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors
Fehldiagnosen bei Subarachnoidalblutungen. Eine Untersuchung an 154 Fällen.