Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 10% and 20% of strokes in high and low-to-middle income countries respectively, but ICH incidence and case fatality do not seem to be declining. In a Health in Action paper published in this week's PLoS Medicine magazine, Colin Josephson, Rustam Al-Shahi Salman, and colleagues (from the University of Edinburgh) discuss the effectiveness of treatments for intracerebral haemorrhage. Despite the lack of decline in ICH incidence and case fatality, the authors find that evidence supports organised stroke unit care and secondary prevention with blood pressure lowering after ICH, and that ongoing randomized controlled trials of treatments that are either intended to limit early ICH growth, reduce perihaematomal oedema, or modify other key pathophysiological mechanisms underlying deterioration after acute ICH, offer hope for future improvements in outcome.
Funding: RA-SS is funded by a UK Medical Research Council clinician scientist fellowship. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Josephson CB, Frantzias J, Samarasekera N, Al-Shahi Salman R (2010) The Persisting Burden of Intracerebral Haemorrhage: Can Effective Treatments Be Found? PLoS Med 7(10): e1000353. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000353
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CONTACT:
Rustam Al-Shahi Salman
University of Edinburgh
Rustam.Al-Shahi@ed.ac.uk
PLOS Medicine