Intracerebral hemorrhage in young adults

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating form of stroke. Its common risk factors include hypertension and smoking, but different underlying causes are numerous. Knowledge regarding clinical characteristics and outcome of young ICH patients, encompassing 10% of all ICH patients, is limited. The aims of this study were to define the risk factors, etiologic distribution, clinical picture, medical complications suffered, and prognosis of ICH at young age. We collected detailed clinical, radiological, mortality and follow-up data on all consecutive patients between 16 and 49 years of age with first-ever ICH treated at the Helsinki University Hospital (HUH) between 2000 and 2010. Results concerning the early course of ICH were compared to a series of ICH patients aged >49 years treated in HUH between 2005 and 2010. Median age was 42 years (interquartile range 34-47) and males comprised 59.5% of the 336 patients included. Annual incidence of ICH was 4.9 (95% confidence interval 4.5-5.3) per 100 000. The most prevalent risk factors were hypertension (29.8%) and smoking (22.3%). Compared to older ICH patients (n=921) hypertensive microangiopathy was less common (25.0% vs. 34.3%, P=0.002) and structural lesions more common (25.0% vs. 4.9%, P<0.001) assumed etiologies of ICH. The cause remained elusive in 32.1% of all young patients, and in 22.5% of those who underwent MRI and any angiography (n=89, P=0.023). Three-month mortality rate was lower among young patients compared to older ones, (17.0% vs. 32.7%, p<0.001). Hematoma volumes were similar across all ages (p=0.324) and it independently predicted mortality in older patients, but not in the young. More severe stroke initially, measured by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, infratentorial hematoma location, hydrocephalus, herniation, and multiple hemorrhages associated with increased 3-month mortality. When adjusted for these factors as well as demographics, ICH volume, and the underlying cause, we found that surgical evacuation was associated with lower mortality (odds ratio 0.06; 95% confidence interval 0.02-0.21, P<0.001). In propensity-score matched analysis, case-fatality rates were three-fold in those treated conservatively (27.5% vs. 7.8%, P<0.001). The most common medical complications included hyperglycemia (51%), hyponatremia (45%), hypopotassemia (32%), and infections (28%). Hyperglycemia was the only single complication independently associated with increased mortality (5.90, 2.25-15.48, P<0.001). However, three or more concomitant complications also associated with increased mortality (7.76, 1.42-42.49, P=0.018). Among the 268 one-month survivors, 1-year survival was 98.1% (95% confidence interval 96.2-100%), 5-year survival 93.2% (89.3-97.1%), and 10-year survival 88.8% (84.9-92.7%), with male gender (3.36, 1.28-8.80, P=0.014) and diabetes (2.64, 1.01-6.89, P=0.047) being associated with mortality. Unfavorable outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 2-5) emerged in 49%, and was independently predicted by higher age (1.09 per one year, 1.03-1.15, P=0.002) stroke severity (1.17 per one NIHSS score point, 1.08-1.27, P