Turkish Neurosurgery
2014 , Vol 24 , Num 3
Simultaneous Bilateral Hypertensive Putaminal or Thalamic Hemorrhage: Case Report and Systematic Review of the Literature
Wakayama Rosai Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Wakayama, Japan
DOI :
10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.8552-13.0
Simultaneous multiple hypertensive intracranial hemorrhage is rare, and its mechanism is unclear. We report a case of simultaneous
hypertensive bilateral thalamic hemorrhage. A 58-year-old man presented with sudden mild right hemiparesis. Computed tomography 1 hour
after the onset showed bilateral thalamic hemorrhage. Gradient-echo T2*-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed 17 microbleeds. The
patient was treated with medication, discharged home, and achieved a modified Rankin scale of 1 at 3 months from the onset. Additionally, by
systematically searching in PubMed, we found 41 cases of simultaneous bilateral hypertensive putaminal or thalamic hemorrhage, including our
case: 18 bilateral putaminal, 12 bilateral thalamic, and 11 unilateral putaminal and contralateral thalamic hemorrhage. Symmetric hemorrhage
occurred more frequently than expected ratios of hemorrhage occurring randomly in terms of location (p=0.013; Fisher’s exact test). These
new findings raise the hypothesis that patients may have symmetrically vulnerable vessels. Such conditions would result in coincidence or
subsequent rupture of perforating arteries or micro-aneurysms by increased blood pressure and cause symmetric hemorrhages. Studies on
the distribution of microbleeds may address these issues.
Keywords :
Simultaneous multiple intracranial hemorrhages, Hypertension, Microbleeds, Putaminal hemorrhage, Thalamic hemorrhage