Impact of early surgery after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of early aneurysm surgery (<72 h) on outcome in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH).


METHODS
We studied two consecutive series of patients with aneurysmal SAH [postponed surgery (PS) cohort, n = 118, 1989-1992: surgery was planned on day 12 and early surgery (ES) cohort, n = 85, 1996-1998: ES was performed only in patients with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) >13]. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to assess outcome at 3 months.


RESULTS
Favourable outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale 4 or 5) was similar in both cohorts. Cerebral ischemia occurred significantly more often in the ES cohort. The occurrence of rebleeds was similar in both cohorts. External cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage was performed more often in the ES cohort (51% vs 19%). Patients with cisternal sum score (CSS) of subarachnoid blood <15 on admission [adjusted odds ratio (OR) for favourable outcome: 6.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-39.8] and patients with both CSS <15 and GCS > 12 on admission benefited from the strategy including ES (OR 10.5, 95% CI 1.1-99.4).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results support the widely adopted practice of ES in good-grade SAH patients.
van der Jagt
M
M
Department of Neurology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. m.vanderjagt@erasmusmc.nl
Hasan
D
D
Dippel
D W J
DW
van Dijk
E J
EJ
Avezaat
C J J
CJ
Koudstaal
P J
PJ
D000328:Adult; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000209:etiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D023261:Glasgow Outcome Scale; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000601:surgery*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000601:surgery*; D013346:Subarachnoid Space / Q000098:blood supply; D016896:Treatment Outcome