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. 2006 Jun;77(6):753-9.
doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2005.085175.

Axonal damage and outcome in subarachnoid haemorrhage

A Petzold  1 , G Keir, A Kay, M Kerr, E J Thompson
Affiliations

Axonal damage and outcome in subarachnoid haemorrhage

A Petzold et al. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006 Jun.

Abstract

Background: On the basis of preliminary evidence from patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), axonal degeneration is thought to be an underestimated pathological feature.

Methods: A longitudinal study in 17 patients with aneurysmal SAH. Ventricular CSF was collected daily for up to 14 days. The neurofilament heavy chain(SMI35) (NfH(SMI35), a biomarker for axonal damage) was quantified using a standard ELISA (upper limit of normal 0.73 ng/ml). The primary outcome measure was the Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) at 3 months.

Results: Of 148 samples from patients with SAH, pathologically high NfH levels in the CSF were found in 78 (52.7%) samples, compared with 20 (5%) of 416 samples from the reference population (p<0.0001). A pathological increase in NfH was observed in all patients with a bad outcome (GOS 1-3) compared with 8% of those with a good outcome (GOS 4-5, p<0.0001). This increase typically became significant 7 days after the haemorrhage (p<0.01). The result was confirmed by analysing the individual mean NfH concentrations in the CSF (3.45 v 0.37 ng/ml, p<0.01), and was reinforced by the inverse correlation of NfH in the CSF with the GOS (r = -0.65, p<0.01). Severity of injury was found to be correlated to NfH(SMI35) levels in the CSF (World Federation of Neurological Surgeons, r = 0.63, p<0.01 and Glasgow Coma Score, r = -0.61, p<0.01).

Conclusion: Patients with SAH thus have secondary axonal degeneration, which may adversely affect their outcome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Comment in

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