Preliminary symptoms of cerebral hemorrhage

Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
Updated on November 25, 2024
00:00
00:00

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.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Yan Hao
Neurology
1min 7sec home-news-image

Causes of cerebral hemorrhage

The most common cause of cerebral hemorrhage is hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage. Patients with hypertension who do not adequately control their blood pressure, which frequently fluctuates, can lead to hardening of the cerebral vessels. The elasticity of the cerebral vessel walls diminishes, and when the blood pressure rises sharply, it can cause the cerebral vessels to rupture, leading to cerebral hemorrhage. This is the most common cause of cerebral hemorrhage, accounting for over 80%. Another common cause of cerebral hemorrhage is the rupture of cerebral aneurysms, which often leads to subarachnoid hemorrhage. Patients with this condition experience severe headaches, consciousness disturbances, and restlessness. Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a relatively severe medical condition with a high mortality rate. Additionally, some cerebral hemorrhages are caused by trauma, leading to cerebral contusion, skull fractures, subdural hematoma, and epidural hematoma. These causes account for a relatively small proportion of clinical cases.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Tang Li Li
Neurology
1min 15sec home-news-image

Is cerebral hemorrhage dangerous?

Cerebral hemorrhage is a type of acute cerebrovascular accident and is quite dangerous. The risk associated with cerebral hemorrhage is directly related to the amount of bleeding and the location of the bleed. Generally, if it is an ordinary lobar hemorrhage and the volume of blood is less than 30 milliliters, the risk is relatively low, and conservative medical treatment may be sufficient. However, if the bleeding exceeds 30 milliliters, there is an indication for surgery. Without surgery, conservative treatment may lead to an increase in hematoma and progressive surrounding edema, which could compress the brainstem, cause brain herniation, and lead to respiratory and circulatory failure, posing a life-threatening risk. Hemorrhages in the brainstem and cerebellum are even more dangerous. The brainstem is the center of vital functions, including the centers for breathing and heart rate. Typically, a bleeding volume exceeding 5 milliliters in the brainstem can lead to patient death. Since the cerebellum is close to the brainstem and might compress it, a bleeding volume exceeding 10 milliliters in the cerebellum often warrants consideration for surgery.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Chen Ya
Geriatrics
39sec home-news-image

Complications of Cerebral Hemorrhage

The main complications of cerebral hemorrhage are infections or fever, especially aspiration pneumonia, which is quite common. The second complication is hyperglycemia. The third is stress ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding. The fourth complication involves cardiac issues, as patients with cerebral hemorrhage are prone to neurogenic cardiac damage. Another complication is epilepsy; patients with lobar hemorrhage are likely to experience recurrent seizures. Additionally, there is also central fever.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Jiang Fang Shuai
Neurosurgery
1min 15sec home-news-image

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.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Jiang Fang Shuai
Neurosurgery
44sec home-news-image

Is cerebral hemorrhage dangerous?

Cerebral hemorrhage damages the central nervous system, which is our command center. Once the command center is damaged, a person's respiration, blood pressure, pulse, heartbeat, body temperature, movement, sensation, digestion, and other vital activities will be affected. The common sites for cerebral hemorrhage are in the basal ganglia, cerebrospinal fluid, pons, and cerebellum. These regions are usually important brain functional areas. Therefore, although advanced medical technology is available for treating patients with cerebral hemorrhage, the mortality and disability rates are still relatively high. Cerebral hemorrhage is a dangerous disease.