Introduction: Volume measurements performed on brain MRI after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) may provide insight into the structural abnormalities that underlie the commonly occurring and persistent long-term functional deficits after aSAH. We examined the pattern of long-term cerebral structural changes on MRI in relation to known risk factors for poor functional outcome.
Methods: We studied MRI scans from 38 patients who received endovascular treatment and were not dependent for activities of daily life at 18 months after aSAH. Risk factors for poor functional outcome (clinical condition, Hijdra score, and bicaudate index on admission; occurrence of hydrocephalus or delayed cerebral infarction during hospitalization) were related to supratentorial cerebral parenchymal and lateral ventricular volumes on MRI with linear regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, and intracranial volume.
Results: Clinical condition, Hijdra score, and bicaudate index on admission were not related to cerebral parenchymal volume at 18 months. A higher bicaudate index on admission was related to lateral ventricular enlargement at 18 months after aSAH (Beta; 95%CI: 0.51; 0.14↔0.88). Delayed cerebral infarction was related to smaller cerebral parenchymal volumes (-0.14; -0.25↔-0.04) and to lateral ventricular enlargement (0.49; 0.16↔0.83) at 18 months.
Conclusion: Volume measurements of the brain are able to quantify patterns of long-term cerebral damage in relation to different risk factors after aSAH. Application of volumetric techniques may provide more insight into the heterogeneous underlying pathophysiological processes. After confirmation of these results in larger studies, volumetric measures might even be used as outcome measures in future treatment studies.