Differentiation between traumatic tap and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: prospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To describe the findings in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with acute headache that could distinguish subarachnoid hemorrhage from the effects of a traumatic lumbar puncture.

Design

A substudy of a prospective multicenter cohort study.

Setting

12 Canadian academic emergency departments, from November 2000 to December 2009.

Participants

Alert patients aged over 15 with an acute non-traumatic headache who underwent lumbar puncture to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Main outcome measure

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage requiring intervention or resulting in death.

Results

Of the 1739 patients enrolled, 641 (36.9%) had abnormal results on cerebrospinal fluid analysis with >1 × 10(6)/L red blood cells in the final tube of cerebrospina

SUBMITTER: Perry JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4353280 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature