DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE

Abstract

While the subject of subarachnoid hemorrhage has received some consideration from older writers,¹it is the work of Symonds²that has stimulated interest in it in recent times. Generally, the condition is treated under the heading of "spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage" and is defined as bleeding into the subarachnoid space due to causes other than trauma. Strauss and his co-workers³defined it as massive extravasation of blood into the subarachnoid space caused by spontaneous rupture of the blood vessels. I agree with Smith⁴that the term "spontaneous" is both misleading and meaningless and should be discarded. Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a symptom, and not a disease entity. It is due to the presence of blood in the subarachnoid space. It results from blood escaping from pial vessels, from ruptured intracranial aneurysm, from massive cerebral hemorrhage that extended to the subarachnoid space, from ventricular hemorrhage and from vascular cerebral