Hydrocephalus Growth: Definition, Prevalence, Association with Poor Outcome in Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background/Objectives To propose a novel definition for hydrocephalus growth and to further describe the association between hydrocephalus growth and poor outcome among patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods We analyzed consecutive patients who presented within 6 h after ICH ictus between July 2011 and June 2017. Follow-up CT scans were performed within 36 h after initial CT scans. The degree of hydrocephalus were evaluated by the hydrocephalus score of Diringer et al. The optimal increase of the hydrocephalus scores between initial and follow-up CT scan was estimated to define hydrocephalus growth. Poor long-term outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale of 4–6 at 3 months. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the hydrocephalus growth for predicting 30-day mortality, 90-day mortality, and poor long-term outcome. Results A total of 321 patients with ICH were included in the study. Of 64 patients with hydrocephalus growth, 34 (53.1%) patients presented with both concurrent hematoma expansion and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) growth. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, hydrocephalus growth independently predicted 30-day mortality, 90-day mortality, and 90-day poor long-term outcome in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Hydrocephalus growth showed higher accuracy for predicting 30-day mortality, 90-day mortality, and poor long-term outcome than IVH growth or hematoma expansion, respectively. Conclusions Hydrocephalus growth is defined by strongly predictive of short- or long-term mortality and poor outcome at 90 days, and might be a potential indicator for assisting clinicians for clinical decision-making.