CT-LP Is Still the Appropriate Evaluation for Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Although researchers found that combining early head computed tomography and the SAH clinical decision rule was 100% sensitive for diagnosing aneurysmal SAH, the study had significant weaknesses.

Head computed tomography (CT) imaging along with lumbar puncture (LP) has been the conventional evaluation for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Researchers reviewed records for 155 adults diagnosed with aneurysmal SAH after undergoing head CT within 6 hours of symptom onset at 21 California emergency departments from 2007 to 2013 to retrospectively assess whether applying the SAH clinical decision rule improves sensitivity for this diagnosis. The SAH clinical decision rule considers age ≥40 years, maximal pain at onset, symptom onset during exertion, and witnessed loss of consciousness as high-risk features requiring further investigation.

Head CT imaging and the SAH clinical decision rule each were 96% sensitive for the diagnosis of aneurysma…

Reviewing Author

Cheryl Lynn Horton, MD

Disclosures

Speaker’s bureauAirway Management Education Center

Cheryl Lynn Horton, MD

Disclosures

Speaker’s bureauAirway Management Education Center

CT-LP Is Still the Appropriate Evaluation for Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

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Reviewing Author