• Amado Jiménez-Ruiz, Naomi N Becerra-Aguiar, Victor Aguilar-Fuentes, Juan C Ayala-Alvarez, Enrique Gómez-Figueroa, Carlos Cantú, Antonio Arauz, Fabiola Serrano-Arias, and José L Ruiz-Sandoval.
• Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases Clinic, Hospital Civil de Guadalajara "Fray Antonio Alcalde", Guadalajara, Jal., Mexico.
• Rev Invest Clin. 2024 Sep 23; 76 (5): 213222213-222.

BackgroundThe leading cause of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is hypertensive arteriolopathy. In addition to age and hypertension history, patients usually present other comorbidities that potentially increase morbimortality. Ancillary studies other than non-contrast computerized tomography (NCCT) may help clarify the diagnosis and increase the detection of potentially modifiable vascular risk factors. Unfortunately, their use is not routinely performed.ObjectiveThe study aimed to determine the frequency of ancillary studies performed in patients with hypertensive ICH.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of three Latin American cerebrovascular registries from academic medical centers, analyzing the results with descriptive statistics focusing on diagnosis and short-term outcomes.ResultsWe analyzed a total of 1,324 patients (mean age 64 years). Hypertension and obesity were the most prevalent risk factors. Only 14% underwent MRI, 10.3% extracranial ultrasonography, and 6.7% echocardiography. Among the three registries, the Latin America Stroke Registry performed more ancillary studies. Most of the patients presented a poor clinical outcome and in-hospital death.ConclusionsThe use of ancillary studies in the diagnostic workup of ICH was poor in the three registries, and mortality was high. The lack of ancillary studies performed may negatively impact outcomes.

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