Abstract
The CT findings of 19 hemodialyzed patients with brain hemorrhage (BH) were evaluated. The 30-day mortality rate was 78.9%. The lesion locations in the 19 cases with BH were putaminal hemorrhage in 8 patients, putaminothalamic (mixed) hemorrhage in 7, thalamic hemorrhage in one, subcortical hemorrhage in one, and cerebellar hemorrhage in one. In the remaining patient, the bleeding was confined to the ventricular system. One remarkable CT finding was the formation of a massive hematoma in most cases. In some cases, the hematoma occupied the greater part of one cerebral hemisphere. Oral anticoagulants and/or antiplatelet drugs, and intravenous heparinization could produce massive accumulations of blood in the brain parenchyma. The second major finding was the low CT absorption values of the hematoma at the acute stage, as compared to that of hypertensive BH. This decreased absorption density resulted from a low hemoglobin concentration in the hematoma itself due to the severe anemia occurring in patients on long-term maintenance hemodialysis.
