How is cerebral hemorrhage treated?

Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
Updated on September 10, 2024
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For patients with cerebral hemorrhage, the first step is to urgently send the patient to the local hospital for medical attention and head CT scans. This primarily determines the current location of the hemorrhage, the severity of the bleeding, including the number of intracerebral hematomas. If there are multiple intracerebral hematomas causing significant mass effect and substantial compression on the surrounding brain tissue, leading to neurological damage, emergency surgical treatment is generally recommended. If the bleeding is minor with no significant mass effect, conservative treatment is advised. Treatment can include hemostasis, brain health promotion, nerve nutrition, acid suppression, and prevention of lung infections, among other approaches.

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Written by Gao Yi Shen
Neurosurgery
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Is cerebral hemorrhage serious?

The critical period for cerebral hemorrhage is generally around 14 days, as it primarily involves overcoming two most dangerous phases. The first phase is within three days of the cerebral hemorrhage. This period is most feared for the potential increase in bleeding. Often, if blood pressure is not well controlled, it can easily lead to further bleeding, especially within the first three days which has the highest incidence. The second phase is approximately 10-14 days after the cerebral hemorrhage, because this period marks the peak of cerebral swelling and cerebral vasospasm. The main concern here is severe cerebral swelling and cerebral vasospasm, which can lead to cerebral infarction, and potentially extensive cerebral infarction, possibly resulting in death. Trepanation surgery may be necessary to save the patient.

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Written by Jiang Fang Shuai
Neurosurgery
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How is cerebral hemorrhage treated?

The treatment for brain hydrocephalus includes conservative medical treatment and surgical intervention. Conservative medical treatment is primarily for patients with a lesser amount of bleeding, using methods such as hemostasis, brain protection, dehydration to reduce intracranial pressure, and maintaining electrolyte balance for symptomatic support treatment. For bedridden patients, it's also necessary to prevent and treat various complications such as pulmonary infections, urinary system infections, and venous thrombosis. Surgical treatment is mainly for patients with a larger volume of bleeding, approximately 30mL of cerebrospinal fluid bleeding, cerebellar bleeding over 10mL, or cerebellar bleeding less than 10mL but causing brainstem compression. Patients with hydrocephalus should actively consider surgery to remove the hematoma. The decision to perform decompressive craniectomy is based on preoperative and intraoperative findings. In some cases, where the brain compression is not severe, or in elderly patients who have poor tolerance for surgery, minimally invasive surgery to remove the hematoma may be considered.

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Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
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What should be done about cerebral hemorrhage?

Cerebral hemorrhage is a relatively serious disease. After a cerebral hemorrhage occurs, patients usually experience noticeable headaches, nausea, and vomiting. The onset is relatively rapid, and it may present clinical symptoms such as slurred speech, deviation of the mouth, and paralysis of one side of the body. In severe cases, the patient may become comatose or even die. Once diagnosed with cerebral hemorrhage, it is necessary to immediately rush to the nearest hospital for treatment. It is important to ensure the patient rests in bed, keeps their emotions stable, avoids emotional excitement, and maintains regular bowel movements without straining. If cerebral hemorrhage causes increased intracranial pressure, dehydration medications to reduce intracranial pressure can be used. Additionally, medications to protect brain cells should be used. It is crucial to actively control the patient's blood pressure and, when the condition stabilizes, to perform regular rehabilitative exercises to promote the recovery of neurological functions. If the volume of the cerebral hemorrhage is large and threatens the patient's life, neurosurgery may be needed to save the patient's life.

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Written by Tang Li Li
Neurology
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Does cerebral hemorrhage have a genetic basis?

Cerebral hemorrhage is not hereditary and is not a genetic disease; it is a type of acute cerebrovascular disease. Its occurrence is related to risk factors of cerebrovascular disease, and some risk factors may be related to genetics. Therefore, having a family history of cerebral hemorrhage is considered one of the factors that can increase the incidence rate of cerebral hemorrhage in patients. For example, if a patient's parents have hypertension, diabetes, or hyperlipidemia, these risk factors can significantly increase the likelihood that the patient will also develop these conditions as they age. Long-term hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia can lead to arterial wall hardening, sometimes resulting in hyaline degeneration. When blood pressure fluctuates, it can easily form microaneurysms that rupture and bleed, thus causing cerebral hemorrhage. Therefore, although cerebral hemorrhage itself is not hereditary, hereditary-related conditions such as hypertension and diabetes might lead to its occurrence.

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Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
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Preliminary symptoms of cerebral hemorrhage

Cerebral hemorrhage is a severe and sudden onset condition that usually starts without any prodromal symptoms, manifesting as hemiplegia, severe headaches, or even coma. However, some patients may exhibit certain early symptoms, which mainly include: First, headache, which is not particularly severe, is tolerable, but typically affects the forehead and both temporal areas. Second, patients generally have very high, hard-to-control blood pressure. If the blood pressure is extremely high and difficult to manage, the possibility of cerebral hemorrhage should be considered. Third, in the early stages of cerebral hemorrhage, patients may experience symptoms such as dizziness, blurred vision, and general weakness. Overall, the early symptoms of cerebral hemorrhage are not particularly typical. If a patient with high blood pressure becomes hard to manage, experiences slight headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, and some nausea, these may be indicative of the early symptoms of cerebral hemorrhage.