Intracerebral hemorrhage in young adults: Analysis of etiology, clinical characteristics and discharge outcome

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluated the etiology, clinical characteristics and discharge outcomes of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) without trauma in young adults admitted to a comprehensive stroke center. Subject and method: This was a retrospective study of patients aged under 46 years with nontraumatic ICH admitted from October 2022 to April 2023. Data was collected on demographics, clinical history, hemorrhage location, possible etiology, and discharge outcome. Categorical data was reported as percentage. Chi-squared test was performed to evaluate association of location of ICH, etiology of ICH with the discharge outcome. Result: Forty-five patients met the study criteria, with mean age 35.6 ± 8.1 years including 16 (35.6%) female, 29 (64.4%) male. Headache (86.7%) and hemiparalysis (77.8%) were the most common symptoms. Hematoma was most commonly seen in the deep structures in 21 (46.6%) patients followed by lobar ICH in 17 (37.8%) patients. The most common etiology of ICH was hypertension, which seen in 23 (51.1%) patients, followed by vascular abnormalities in 13 (28.8%) patients. Twenty-two patients (48.9%) had good outcome defined as mRS 0-2. Twenty-three patients (51.1%) had poor outcome with mRS 3-6 at discharge. Location and etiology of hemorrhage were not associated with discharge outcome. Conclusion: Hypertension, a modifiable risk factor, is a major cause of nontraumatic ICH in young adults. In primary care settings, hypertension and life styles were important modifiable risk factors for all subtypes of strokes. Considering that hypertension is an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients with ICH, this comorbidity should be managed aggressively in young patients as part of a primary prevention strategy related to ICH.