Early Cognitive Impairment following Intracerebral Haemorrhage?

The classic presentation of Intracerebral hemorrhage is sudden onset of a focal neurological deficit that progresses over minutes to hours with accompanying headache, nausea, vomiting , decreased consciousness, and elevated blood pressure. Rarely patients present with symptoms upon awakening from sleep. Neurologic deficits are related to the site of parenchymal hemorrhage.

To determine the incidence of early cognitive impairment following intracerebral haemorrhage a recent study was conducted and reported in Journal Associations of Physicians of India.

A total of 30 adult patients (>18 years) with intracerebral hemorrhage were enrolled in the study. Demographic profile, clinical and radiological profile of the patients was noted. Cognitive status at discharge was assessed using Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

The majority of patients were males. It was found that at discharge, all the patients had cognitive impairment - majority that is 76.7%) had moderate cognitive impairment followed by severe impairment in 16.7% and mild impairment in 6.7%. Only history of tobacco use showed a significant association with severe cognitive impairment.

Researchers therefore, concluded that at discharge mild to moderate cognitive impairment is quite frequent among intracerebral hemorrhage patients irrespective of the demographic, clinical and radiological profile.

Reference: Ravi Shukla, Lt. Col. Shaman Gill, Col. Pawan Dhull, Anjali Tripathi; " Incidence and Correlates of Early Cognitive Impairment following Intracerebral Haemorrhage", volume issue 70, march 2022.