Pseudo-subarachnoid hemorrhage: a potential imaging pitfall associated with diffuse cerebral edema.
We report CT findings in seven patients with diffuse cerebral edema and increased attenuation in the basilar cisterns resembling subarachnoid hemorrhage. On the basis of autopsy (three cases) and lumbar puncture (four cases) findings, true subarachnoid hemorrhage was reasonably excluded. Pathophysiologic changes that occur with diffuse cerebral edema are explored, with proposed explanations for the appearance of a pseudo-subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Given
Curtis A
CA
Departments of Neuroradiology, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Burdette
Jonathan H
JH
Elster
Allen D
AD
Williams
Daniel W
DW
D000328:Adult; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014695:Cerebral Ventriculography; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007427:Intracranial Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D013346:Subarachnoid Space / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed