Intracranial hypertension and prognosis of spontaneous intracerebral haematomas. A correlative study of 60 patients.

Intraventricular pressure was recorded in 60 patients with intracerebral haemorrhage, and correlated with their clinical conditions and prognosis. The results show that an evaluated intraventricular pressure is statistically linked with the most serious situations, and with the most severe prognosis. However, two thirds of the decreased patients had died with an almost normal pressure, suggesting that intracranial hypertension is not always the immediate cause of death, but only an aggravating factor. From these results, it is proposed that intracranial pressure should be monitored only in stuporous or comatose patients, and always compared with CT scan images, which give better information regarding the harmful effect of midline structure displacement.