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New Guidelines To Prevent Brain Damage Following A Stroke

By Michael Kaplen

Brain damage following a stroke is frequently preventable if proper medical intervention takes places in a timely fashion. 

Patients who suffer a stroke that involves bleeding between the surface of the brain and the brain tissue have a better chance of survival and reduced disability if they are treated within 24-hours ? and at a hospital that handles many brain-attack emergencies, according to updated guidelines from the American Heart Association, published today in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The condition, called aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, is often misdiagnosed, even though it is one of the most deadly neurological emergencies. About 45 percent of patients who have such an attack die in the first 30 days, and about half of survivors are left with significant impairment.

The most common diagnostic error is failure to obtain a CT scan. When patients complain of severe headache with acute onset, doctors should consider the possibility of subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Early definitive aneurysm treatment, defined as within 24 hours, is indicated for most patients, and can reduce death and disability. Standardized protocols are necessary for managing these patients ? particularly in the early stages ? in the emergency department.

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage can occur spontaneously or due to a head injury. An aneurysm is a small bubble that forms over several years on one of the brain?s blood vessels in young and middle aged adults. Subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs when an aneurysm bursts and blood is released into the subarachnoid space in the brain, which is the lining between the surface of the brain and the brain tissue.

Full post as published by Brain Injury News and Information on January 25, 2009 (boomark / email).