Delayed ischemic neurologic deficit with vasospasm in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage after negative post-bleed day 7 angiography.

Objective: Routine post-bleed day 7 (PBD7) angiography has been utilized to evaluate for vasospasm in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). We sought to assess the rate of delayed-cerebral ischemia (DCI) associated with angiographic vasospasm following negative PBD7 angiography.

Methods: Retrospective review of 178 aneurysmal SAH patients was performed. Patients underwent routine angiography on or around 7 days after hemorrhage. Primary variables assessed were the rate of vasospasm detection on PBD7 angiograms and rate of subsequent development of delayed-cerebral ischemia (DCI) associated with angiographic vasospasm in patients without spasm on PBD7. Statistical analysis was carried out for contributing factors.

Results: Eighty-four of 178 patients (47.2 %) developed angiographically proven vasospasm during their hospital course. Seven patients (3.9 %) were clinically suspected to have vasospasm prior to PBD7 with radiographic confirmation. Sixty-nine patients (38.8%) demonstrated novel spasm on routine PBD7 angiogram, with 56.5 % of these patients showing vasospasm on angiography obtained after PBD7 for DCI. One hundred and two patients (57.3 %) had no vasospasm on routine PBD7 angiography. Eight patients in the PBD7 spasm-free subgroup went on to develop DCI with angiographic spasm. These 8 patients represent 4.5 % (8/178) of all patients, 7.8 % (8/102) of the PBD7 negative subgroup, and 9.5 % (8/84) of patients with angiographic spasm during admission.

Conclusion: The majority of patients (90.4 %) with angiographic vasospasm manifested on or before PBD7. DCI with angiographically-proven spasm arouse infrequently (7.8 %) after negative PBD7 angiography. Further study of PBD7 angiography may help determine which SAH patients in whom shortened length-of-stay might safely be pursued.