Purpose: Bath-related thunderclap headache (BRTH) is a rare and usually benign condition. We report a case of episodic explosive thunderclap headache (TH) provoked by showering water, with the complications of cortical subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAH) and delayed intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).
Case report: A 56-year-old premenopausal woman, without chronic illness or headache history, suffered from 4 episodes of severe explosive TH within 11 days. Two of these attacks were provoked by hot water and 1 by cold water. A small acute SAH was found in the left high frontal cortex on brain computed tomography (CT) performed 7 days after the first attack (day 7). Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and angiography (MRA) on day 9 disclosed a new acute SAH in the right frontal cortex but with no apparent vasoconstriction. CT angiography (CTA) on day 12 first revealed vasoconstriction in the M2 segment of right middle cerebral artery (MCA), and found a new ICH in the right anterior frontal lobe. Conventional angiography on day 14 revealed partial remission of vasoconstriction with only mild short segmental narrowing at the proximal M1 segment of right MCA. The patient had no clinical neurological deficit. She was free of headache at day 11 when she started taking nimodipine.
Conclusion: Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) presented with BRTH is rare and is not always that benign as was once thought. The delayed ICH and the short-period of vasoconstriction in this patient extended our knowledge that the time course of the complications and the duration of vasospasm in RCVS could vary widely among patients. Nimodipine is probably effective in both relieving symptoms and reversing vasoconstriction.