Intracranial hemorrhage: diagnosis and emergency management.

Intracranial hemorrhages are an important cause of acute neurologic disease presenting in the emergency setting. To optimize outcome, it is important that the physician quickly recognize intracranial hemorrhages. To minimize mortality and neurologic morbidity, it is often necessary to initiate urgent therapy in the emergency rooms and to obtain neurosurgical consultation in order to pursue early surgical therapy. This article discusses the recognition and early treatment of the various types of intracranial hemorrhages.