Spontaneous Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Incidence Up in Pregnant Women

subarachnoid hemorrhage
subarachnoid hemorrhage
Researchers have observed an upward trend in the incidence of pregnancy-related spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage.

During the course of 12 years, researchers found an upward trend in pregnancy-related spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (sSAH), according to data from aretrospective analysis presented at the 2018 International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles, California.

Researchers used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample and Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project to collect data between 2002 and 2014. Patients age 15 to 49 years with sSAH were identified (N=73,692); of these, 3978 (5.4%) were pregnant women. The proportion of sSAH during pregnancy increased from 4.16% to 6.33% (P for trend <.001) during the 12-year period. Conversely, there was a slight decrease of sSAH in women who were not pregnant.

Incidence of sSAH was compared among race and age groups. For example, African American women had the highest proportion of sSAH during pregnancy (8.19%) vs Hispanic women (7.11%) and white women (3.83%). Women between the ages of 20 and 29 years had the highest proportion of sSAH (20.07%) vs ages 15 to 19 years (11.39%), 30 to 39 years (10.01%), and 40 to 49 years (0.69%).

However, having sSAH during pregnancy resulted in a lower rate of in-hospital mortality compared with nonpregnant women (7.7% vs 17.4%; P <.001), according to an age-controlled cohort. In addition, women who were pregnant had a higher rate of being discharged to home compared with nonpregnant women (69.87% vs 53.85%; P <.001).

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The investigators emphasized the importance of conducting larger population studies to better assess risk for sSAH during pregnancy and the associated morbidity and mortality.

Reference

Limaye K, Patel A, Lahoti S, et al. Secular increases in spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage during pregnancy. Presented at: International Stroke Conference. January 24-26, 2018; Los Angeles, CA. Abstract 36.