Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a frightening disorder in which
blood ruptures from an artery in the brain and leaks into the
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The result is that someone who is
relatively young, often in their fifties or so, suddenly
develops the worst headache they’ve ever had and may go on to
lose consciousness and have a 50% chance of dying. Only about a
third of patients with SAH have a “good result” after treatment.
As if this wasn’t enough, subarachnoid hemorrhage can set off a
cascade of other problems. To safeguard against these further
complications, victims of subarachnoid hemorrhage are monitored
in an intensive care unit after they first come into the
hospital. There are four major complications to subarachnoid
hemorrhage. Those complications are vasospasm, hydrocephalus,
seizures, and rebleeding. The word vasospasm means that blood
vessels in the brain “spasm” and clamp down, reducing and
sometimes even stopping blood flow to parts of the brain. The
result is a stroke. Vasospasm occurs