An unusual hemorrhagic complication after ventriculostomy in a patient with lacunar infarcts.

We report a 53-year-old man suffering from a right thalamic hemorrhage with intraventricular rupture. He initially underwent a ventriculostomy for acute hydrocephalus. Computed tomography scans on the first postoperative day demonstrated a new hematoma in the right frontal lobe that surrounded the drainage catheter. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed lacunar infarcts in the right frontal lobe. Unusual bleeding resulted from a lacunar infarct in the right frontal lobe, which was accidentally damaged by the ventriculostomy. This case suggests that intracerebral hemorrhage may occur in patients with cerebral infarcts near the site of catheter insertion for ventriculostomy.