Bilateral Intracerebral Hemorrhage Following CPR

Abstract

Intracranial hemorrhage is an extremely rare complication following cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Only a few cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage during the post-resuscitation period have been reported in the literature. A 55 year-old man, who was resuscitated following a cardiac arrest, sustained an intracranial hemorrhage during the post cardiac arrest period. His brain computerized tomography (CT), performed 4 hours after return of spontaneous circulation, showed no signs of intracranial hemorrhage. However, a brain CT performed 7 days after cardiac arrest revealed a massive intracerebral hemorrhage in both basal ganglia and thalami with an associated subarachnoid hemorrhage. This paper reports the first case of intracerebral hemorrhages in bilateral basal ganglia and thalami that developed following cardiac arrest and resuscitation.