Abstract
Despite recent advances, cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) still
represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality following aneurysmal subarachnoid
hemorrhage (aSAH). Although a significant portion of the morbidity and mortality associated
with aSAH is related to the initial hemorrhagic ictus, cerebral vasospasm and DCI
are still the leading cause of poor outcomes and death in the acute posthemorrhage
period, causing long-term disability or death in more than one in five of all patients
who have suffered aSAH and initially survived.
Management of patients following aSAH includes four major considerations: (1) prediction
of patients at highest risk for development of DCI, (2) prophylactic measures to reduce
its occurrence, (3) monitoring to detect early signs of cerebral ischemia, and (4)
treatments to correct vasospasm and cerebral ischemia once it occurs. The authors
review the pertinent literature related to each, including both the current management
guidelines supported by the literature as well as novel management strategies that
are currently being investigated.
Keywords
vasospasm - subarachnoid hemorrhage - stroke - delayed cerebral ischemia