Angiographic examination of spontaneous putaminal hemorrhage.
BACKGROUND
This study was carried out to examine indications for angiographic evaluation in the case of spontaneous putaminal hemorrhage.


METHODS
Angiographic examinations were performed on 62 consecutive adults with spontaneous putaminal hemorrhage without remarkable subarachnoid hemorrhage. Most patients were evaluated using conventional catheter angiography except for hypertensive patients over the age of 60 who underwent a magnetic resonance angiogram or a computed tomography angiogram. Computed tomography and clinical factors such as age and hypertension were correlated with the angiographic findings.


RESULTS
Nine of the 62 patients (15%) exhibited angiographic abnormalities, including middle cerebral artery aneurysm (n = 1), arteriovenous malformations (n = 3), moyamoya disease (n = 2), and the moyamoya phenomenon associated with a proximal middle cerebral artery occlusion (n = 3). The angiographic yield was significantly higher (1) among patients at or below the median age of 55 compared with those above (9/33, 27%, versus 0/29, 0%; p < 0.01), and (2) among patients without hypertension compared with those with hypertension (5/9, 56%, versus 4/53, 8%; p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Although our data could be biased due to the patient selection procedure, they suggest that angiographic evaluation is highly useful for spontaneous putaminal hemorrhage regardless of volume and shape of the hematomas, excepting hypertensive patients over 55 years of age.
Park
J
J
Department of Neurosurgery, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea. jparkmd@hotnail.com
Hwang
Y H
YH
Baik
S K
SK
Kim
Y S
YS
Park
S H
SH
Hamm
I S
IS
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002538:Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009072:Moyamoya Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020146:Putaminal Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed