Emergency Imaging of Intracerebral Haemorrhage

Abstract

Spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating condition with high mortality and morbidity despite advances in neurocritical care. Early deterioration is common in the first few hours after ICH onset, secondary to rapid haematoma expansion and growth. Rapid diagnosis and aggressive early management of these patients are therefore crucial. Imaging plays a key role in establishing the diagnosis and the underlying aetiology of ICH, identifying complications and predicting patients who are at high risk for haematoma expansion. In this chapter, we present an evidence-based imaging framework for the management of spontaneous ICH in the acute setting. Non-enhanced computed tomography is long established as the gold standard for ICH diagnosis but has limitations in demonstrating the underlying aetiology in cases of secondary ICH. There is now growing evidence for the ability of non-invasive angiography to establish the underlying aetiology and to predict further haematoma expansion. The presence of small enhancing foci within the haematoma on computed tomography angiography (CTA), the CTA Spot Sign, has been prospectively validated as a predictor of haematoma expansion. Early identification of patients at risk of haematoma expansion allows for the appropriate escalation of care to a neurosurgical team, admission to a neurocritical care unit, appropriate supportive therapy and targeted novel medical and surgical interventions. Catheter angiography, which remains the gold standard for identifying underlying secondary vascular lesions, should be used in selected cases. However, non-invasive vascular imaging should be considered as an important step in the diagnosis and early management of secondary ICH patients. Previous concerns related to the radiation dose, contrast-induced nephropathy and cost are addressed in this chapter. Recently, animal models have enabled the qualitative assessment of haematoma expansion, and our increased understanding of ICH may inform future trials of targeted medical and surgical therapies.