Clinical improvement related to thrombolysis of third ventricular blood clot in a patient with thalamic hemorrhage.
Intraventricular extension of hemorrhage after intraparenchymal hemorrhage is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Clinical improvement is reported in a patient with thalamic hemorrhage with intraventricular extension after third and fourth ventricular blood clot resolution with instillation of urokinase intraventricularly. A 49-year-old man with hypertension collapsed while at work. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the head revealed a left thalamic hemorrhage with extension into the lateral, third, and fourth ventricles and associated hydrocephalus. A left frontal intraventricular catheter (IVC) was placed and intraventricular urokinase was administered at a dose of 25,000 U every 12 hours. The CT scan revealed resolution of the lateral ventricular dilatation and blood clot but no decrease in third or fourth ventricular hemorrhage. No clinical improvement was noted. The IVC was reinserted on the right side with the catheter tip placed through the foramen of Monroe into the third ventricle. Twelve hours after receiving the first dose of urokinase through the new catheter, the patient's condition improved. The CT scan showed a reduction in the volume of blood of the third and fourth ventricles. This case report shows that treatment of hydrocephalus with an IVC was not sufficient to provide a therapeutic effect. Substantial clinical improvement occurred only after the blood clot was cleared from the third and fourth ventricles.
Wright
P
P
Department of Neurology, The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA.
Horowitz
D R
DR
Tuhrim
S
S
Bederson
J B
JB