Abstract 2276: Microhemorrhage Burden Increases the Risk of Hematoma Growth in Patients with Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Introduction Microhemorrhages (MH) are lesions detected on radiological studies resulting from an underlying small-vessel angiopathy. We assesed the hypothesis that the presence of MH increases the risk of hematoma growth (HG) in patients with acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH). Methods We evaluated a series of patients in a prospective and multicentre study. We included patients with a spontaneous supratentorial ICH within the first 6 hours after symptom onset, that also had a follow-up CT 24-72 hours later and a MRI performed after a variable time after ICH. HG was defined as an increase >33% in the volume of hematoma on the follow-up CT, in comparison with the admission CT. The volume was calculated using the formula AxBxC/2. On MR scans we assessed the presence, number and distribution of MH. After differential diagnosis with other radiological lesions, MH were evaluated on echo-gradient sequences and defined as hypointense rounded lesions with a diameter Results We studied 46 patients, whose mean age was 68.8±11.2 y and 68% were men. Mean baseline volume was 19.1±27.3 cc. We detected MH in 7/15 patients with HG and in 18/31 patients without HG (46.7% vs 58.1%, p=0.53). In the subgroup of patients with 10 MH, the risk of HG was higher than in patients with 0-10 MH (75% vs 28.6%, p=0.067), and this difference was significant when considering only patients with a Conclusions In conclusion, in patients with hyperacute ICH, the presence of more than 10 MH increases the risk of HG. This is probably an indirect marker of a more severe underlying angiopathy.