Background: Information on risk factors and outcome of persons with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in Mexico is unknown. We sought to describe the clinical characteristics, risk factors, and outcome at discharge of Mexican patients with aneurysmal SAH.
Methods: A first-step surveillance system was conducted on consecutive cases confirmed by 4-vessel angiography from November 2002 to October 2004 in 25 tertiary referral centers. Age- and sex-matched control subjects were randomly selected by a 1:1 factor, for multivariate analysis on risk factors.
Results: We studied 231 patients (66% women; mean age 52 years, range 16-90 years). In 92%, the aneurysms were in the anterior circulation, and 15% had more than two aneurysms. After multivariate analysis, hypertension (odds ratio 2.46, 95% confidence interval 1.59-3.81) and diabetes mellitus (odds ratio 0.34, 95% confidence interval 0.17-0.68) were directly and inversely associated with aneurysmal SAH, respectively. Median hospital stay was 23 days (range 2-98 days). Invasive treatment was performed in 159 (69%) patients: aneurysm clipping in 126 (79%), endovascular coiling in 29 (18%), and aneurysm wrapping in 4 (2%). The in-hospital mortality was 20% (mostly due to neurologic causes), and 25% of patients were discharged with a modified Rankin score of 4 or 5.
Conclusions: Hypertension is the main risk factor for aneurysmal SAH in hospitalized patients from Mexico. The female:male ratio is 2:1. A relatively low in-hospital mortality and a high frequency of invasive interventions are observed. However, a high proportion of patients are discharged with important neurologic impairment.