Fatal hemorrhage during anticoagulation of cardioembolic infarction: role of cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

We report a patient with recurrent cardioembolism and hemorrhagic infarcts, who developed a fatal intracerebral hemorrhage 3 days after intravenous anticoagulation. At autopsy, cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) was found. Because CAA and anticoagulation may add up to trigger cerebral hemorrhage, the possibility of underlying CAA should be raised before anticoagulating elderly patients with stroke.