Functional outcome and quality of life 5 and 12.5 years after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage

Patients who recover from aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) often remain disabled or have persisting symptoms with a reduced quality of life (QoL). We assessed functional outcome and QoL 5 and 12.5 years after SAH. In a consecutive series of 64 patients with mean age at SAH of 51 years, initial outcome assessments had been performed at 4 and 18 months after SAH. At the initial and current outcome assessments, functional outcome was measured with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and QoL with the SF-36 and a visual analogue scale (VAS). We studied the change in outcome measurements over time. We used the non-parametric Wilcoxon test to compare differences in mRS grades and calculated differences with corresponding 95% confidence intervals in the domain scores of the SF-36 and the VAS. After 5 years, seven patients had died and five patients had missing data. Compared with the 4-month follow-up, the mRS had improved in 29 of the 52 patients, remained similar in 19 patients. The overall QoL (SF-36 domains and VAS score) was better. At 12.5 years an additional six patients had died. Compared to the 4-month study, 25 of the 46 remaining patients had improved mRS, 12 had remained the same and in nine patients the mRS had worsened. Between the 5 and the 12.5 years follow-up, the improvement in mRS had decreased but patients reported overall a better QoL. Among long-time survivors, QoL may improve more than a decade after SAH

Long-Term Outcome of Patients Discharged to a Nursing Home After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Greebe P, Rinkel GJ, Algra A. Long-tern) outcome of patients discharged to a nursing home after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2010;91:247-51. Objective: To study long-term outcome in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) who are relatively young. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Nursing homes. Participants: Patients with SAH (N=92) admitted to our hospital from 1996 to 2006 who were discharged to a nursing home. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Death, discharge from nursing home, and functional status at end of follow-up. Results: Of the 92 patients included, 45 had died after a median of 1.1 years (range, 0.0-8.5y), 35 were discharged to home or a sheltered housing or rehabilitation center after a median of 0.6 years (range, 0.1-9.6y), and 12 remained in a nursing home after a median of 4.8 years (range, 2.2-12.0y). Forty-four (43%) had survived longer than 5 years, and 29 (31%) had regained functional independence within the initial 2 years after admission to the nursing home. Early discharge tended to occur more often in patients admitted from 2001 to 2006 than in those admitted from 1996 to 2001 (hazard ratio=1.8; 95% confidence interval, 0.9-3.7) and in those with an aneurysm not in the anterior communicating artery (hazard ratio=1.9; 95% confidence interval, 0.9-3.9). Conclusions: The prognosis for patients with SAH after admission to a nursing home is not gloomy. The type of rehabilitation that offers best chances to these patients needs to be investigated

Anosmia After Perimesencephalic Nonaneurysmal Hemorrhage

Background and Purpose-Anosmia frequently occurs after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage not only after clipping, but also after endovascular coiling. Thus, at least in part, anosmia is caused by the hemorrhage itself and not only by surgical treatment. However, it is unknown whether anosmia is related to rupture of the aneurysm with sudden increase in intracranial pressure or to the presence of blood in the basal cisterns. Therefore, we studied the prevalence of anosmia in patients with nonaneurysmal perimesencephalic hemorrhage. Methods-We included all patients admitted to our hospital with perimesencephalic hemorrhage between 1983 and 2005. Patients were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. We calculated the proportion of patients with anosmia with corresponding 95% CIs. Results-Nine of 148 patients (6.1%; 95% CI, 2.8% to 11%) had noticed anosmia shortly after the perimesencephalic hemorrhage. In 2, the anosmia had disappeared after 8 to12 weeks; in the other 7, it still persisted after a mean period of follow-up of 9 years. Conclusions-Anosmia occurs in one of every 16 patients with perimesencephalic hemorrhage, which is lower than previously reported rates after coiling in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage but higher than rates after coiling for unruptured aneurysms. These data suggest that blood in the vicinity of the olfactory nerves plays a role in the development of anosmia. (Stroke. 2009; 40: 2885-2886.

ANOSMIA AFTER ANEURYSMAL SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE

Abstract OBJECTIVE Anosmia has an important impact on well-being but is often neglected by physicians. In patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), anosmia has mainly been reported after surgery for aneurysms of the anterior communicating artery. We studied the prevalence, predisposing factors (aneurysm site and type of treatment), impact, and prognosis of anosmia in patients with SAH. METHODS Of the patients with SAH who resumed independent living, we included all patients treated by coiling between 1997 and 2003 and a sample of patients treated by clipping between 1985 and 2001. Patients underwent structured interviews regarding the presence and duration of anosmia. The impact of anosmia was scored using a visual analog scale ranging from 0 (no influence) to 100 (the worst thing that ever happened to them). Risk factors for anosmia were assessed by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS Overall, 89 of the 315 interviewed patients (28%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 23–34%) reported anosmia after SAH (mean follow-up period, 7.4 yr), including 10 (15%) of the 67 coiled patients and 79 (32%) of the 248 clipped patients. The median visual analog scale impact score was 53 (range, 0–100). In 20 of the 89 patients (23%; 95% CI, 15–33), the symptoms had improved over time. Risk factors for anosmia were treatment by clipping (odds ratio [OR], 2.7; 95% CI, 1.3–5.7) and anterior communicating artery aneurysms (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.2–3.3). CONCLUSION Anosmia after SAH has a high prevalence, considerable impact, and poor prognosis. Its occurrence after coiling suggests not only damage to the olfactory nerve by clipping but also that the SAH itself plays a role in its pathogenesis

Independent Risk Factors for Intracranial Aneurysms and Their Joint Effect A Case-Control Study

<p>Background and Purpose-Three percent of the population has an unruptured intracranial aneurysm (UIA). We aimed to identify independent risk factors from lifestyle and medical history for the presence of UIAs and to investigate the combined effect of well-established risk factors.</p><p>Methods-We studied 206 patients with an UIA who never had a subarachnoid hemorrhage and 574 controls who were randomly retrieved from general practitioner files. All participants filled in a questionnaire on potential risk factors for UIAs. With logistic regression analysis, we identified independent risk factors for UIA and assessed their combined effect.</p><p>Results-Independent risk factors were current smoking (odds ratio[ OR], 3.0; 95% confidence interval[ CI], 2.0-4.5), hypertension (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.9-4.6), family history of stroke other than subarachnoid hemorrhage (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.0-2.5), hypercholesterolemia (OR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9), and regular physical exercise (OR, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9). The joint risk of smoking and hypertension was higher (OR, 8.3; 95% CI, 4.5-15.2) than the sum of the risks independently.</p><p>Conclusions-Current smoking, hypertension, and family history of stroke increase the risk of UIA, with smoking and hypertension having an additive effect, whereas hypercholesterolemia and regular physical exercise decrease this risk. A healthy lifestyle probably reduces the risk of UIA and thereby possibly also that of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Whether smoking and hypertension increase the risk of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage only through an increased risk of aneurysm formation or also through an increased risk of rupture remains to be established. (Stroke. 2013;44:984-987.)</p>

Sex-Related Differences in Outcome in Patients with Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: Several population-based studies found a higher case fatality after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (ASAH) in women than in men. This may relate to differences in prognostic characteristics. We therefore assessed sex differences in prognosticators and outcome in ASAH patients. METHODS: From a prospectively collected ASAH database, we retrieved data on patients admitted from 1990 to 2010. We calculated prevalence ratios (PRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for prognosticators (clinical condition on admission, site and treatment of the aneurysm, and complications during the clinical course) and risk ratios (RRs) for in-hospital death and poor outcome (death or dependence) at 3 months. RRs were adjusted for possible confounding with Poisson regression analysis. RESULTS: Of the 1761 included patients, 1211 (68.8%) were women, who were 1.9 (95% CI: .5↔3.3) years older than men. PRs for women for the site of the aneurysm were 1.71 (95% CI: 1.38↔2.13) for the carotid artery, .68 (95% CI: .60↔.77) for the anterior communicating artery, 1.14 (95% CI: .92↔1.41) for the middle cerebral artery, and .85 (95% CI: .63↔1.13) for posterior circulation. PRs of other prognosticators were similar between sexes. The crude RR for in-hospital death for women was .91 (95% CI: .78↔1.05) and for poor outcome at 3 months was .95 (95% CI: .85↔1.06); both remained similar after adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, in-hospital death and poor outcome at 3 months did not differ between men and women. Women were slightly older than men and had different distributions of aneurysm sites, but not to an extent that it explained a sex difference in outcome