Cardiovascular manifestations of subarachnoid haemorrhage

Abstract

Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is one of the devastating conditions, especially the aneurysmal bleed which has high mortality as well as morbidity. The mortality and morbidity caused by SAH have been recognised to be caused by both neurological and systemic causes. The alterations in systemic and other organ damage could cause death in up to 40% of SAH patients. Among the systemic manifestations, cardiovascular and respiratory complications increase hospitalisation and worsen the outcome. The main pathophysiological mechanism is the increased sympathetic activation causing myocardial necrosis. Various cardiovascular manifestations range from electrocardiogram changes to myocardial ischaemia, cardiac failure and arrhythmias. This review deals with the cardiac manifestations in SAH patients.

Keywords

• cardiac enzymes
• electrocardiographic changes
• neurogenic stunned myocardium
• subarachnoid haemorrhage