SPONTANEOUS SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE

Abstract

It is our belief that spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs more frequently than is generally appreciated. This belief, together with the fact that the clinical picture is so striking and so easily recognized, prompts us to discuss briefly the subject, and to report concerning twenty-four cases entering the medical services of the Boston City Hospital in the eighteen months between July, 1929, and January, 1931. INCIDENCE As an illustration of the frequency of subarachnoid hemorrhage, we have compared the incidence of this condition with that of cerebrovascular accidents of all types and subacute bacterial endocarditis during the same time period. The data are as follows: cerebrovascular accidents (all types), 353 cases; spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage, 24 cases; subacute bacterial endocarditis, 22 cases. Thus, the incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage is approximately one-fifteenth that of cerebrovascular accidents (including hemorrhages, thromboses) and about equal to that of subacute bacterial endocarditis, a much better known condition