Recovery slow after surgery for severe brain bleed

NEW YORK, June 19, (Reuters) When people suffer a serious type of bleeding in the brain called a subarachnoid hemorrhage, caused by a ruptured blood vessel, surgery can sometimes stop further damage occurring. Even so, cognitive impairment is common and recovery can take months, researcher report.

Furthermore, Dr Satwant K Samra at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor and associates found, patients improve in their mental capacities over a period of about 9 months, but after that further improvement is minimal.

Their study included 185 patients who had undergone surgery for a subarachnoid hemorrhage and a comparison group of 45 healthy matched ''control'' subjects. Outcomes were based on standard tests of mental capabilities such as memory, language and visuospatial abilities conducted at 3, 9 and 15 months after surgery.

The investigators report in the medical journal Stroke that the percentage of patients with mental impairment dropped from almost 36 per cent at 3 months to less than 26 percent at 9 months; over the next 6 months, however, that dropped only slightly, to 23 per cent.

Composite test scores averaged 42.5 among the patients at 3 months, versus 50.7 among controls. Patients' scores rose to 45.8 at 9 months and 46.7 at 15 months, while the corresponding scores among the control subjects also improved, to 52.5 and 54.2.

Samra's team concludes: ''Improvement reaches a plateau between 9 and 15 months post-surgery, and this has important implications in discussion with patients, families and healthcare providers while planning rehabilitation.'' REUTERS SW RK0920