Subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAH) are a type of stroke. These bleeds in the brain require emergency treatment. As soon as patients arrive in the emergency room, our neurosurgical and neurointerventional teams are collaborating to provide specialized care and stop the bleeding.

Our goal is to decrease pressure in the brain as quickly as possible. When an aneurysm ruptures and causes a subarachnoid hemorrhage, controlling the pressure in the brain is the key factor in determining outcome.

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Overview

A subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs when there is bleeding in the space between the brain and the tissues that cover the brain. A traumatic head injury can cause this bleeding. Or, the bleeding can occur when a brain aneurysm or AVM ruptures.

Between the brain and skull, cerebrospinal fluid fills up the space and acts as a cushion for the brain. This space where the cerebrospinal fluid exists is called the subarachnoid space. When blood gets into this area, it can increase pressure on the brain and cause a stroke.

Stroke symptoms are an emergency. If you experience any of these symptoms, seek emergency care right away:

• Sudden headache, often described as “the worst of your life”
• Stiff neck
• Sensitivity to light
• Nausea and vomiting
• Sudden seizures
• Blurred vision or seeing double

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Care: What to Expect

To treat a subarachnoid hemorrhage, we take patients to the operating room or cardiac catheterization (cath) lab immediately. As a Joint Commission-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center, our team of surgeons can provide clipping, coiling or stenting in our cath lab within the first 24 hours of bleeding.

• Clipping: In this procedure, your surgeon goes through tiny incisions to place a small metal clip on the aneurysm. This stops any more blood from flowing to the aneurysm. With this approach, there is a low risk of a rupture happening again.
• Coiling: Our surgeons place a tiny coil inside the aneurysm to make sure no more blood can fill in the area. This approach inserts a catheter (tube) through a vein in the leg to reach the blood vessels in the brain. This means there is no incision in the skull.
• Stenting: With the expertise of our cerebrovascular surgeon, we also offer a procedure called stent surgery. Our surgeon places a small stent (hollow tube) in the brain to direct blood flow away from an aneurysm. This procedure also goes through a vein in the leg, so there is no skull incision. Stent surgery can be done on both ruptured or unruptured aneurysms.

Comprehensive Stroke Care

Memorial Healthcare System offers stroke care through our Joint Commission-certified Comprehensive Stroke Centers and a Primary Stroke Center. To achieve Comprehensive Stroke Center certification, health systems must:

• Offer advanced imaging
• Use the most innovative treatment options
• Have a dedicated neurocritical care unit
• Treat a high volume of patients
• Participate in the latest research