CAUSES OF MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SURGICALCOMPLICATIONS, AFTER EARLY ANEURYSM OPERATION - A PROSPECTIVE, ONE-YEAR STUDY FROM NEUROSURGICAL UNITS IN SWEDEN

In the present prospective study, 6.93 of Sweden's 8.59 million inhabi tants (81%) were covered by the five participating centres. All patien ts with verified aneurysmal SAH admitted between June 1, 1989 and May 31, 1990, were enrolled. Basically, all participating centres have the same management protocol for SAH victims, including ultra-early refer ral to a neurosurgical unit, followed by pan-angiography and surgery a s early as logistically possible. In this presentation, 145 patients w ho preoperatively were in Hunt & Hess Grades I-III and who underwent s urgery for a supratentorial aneurysm within 72 h after the bleed, are evaluated. Eighty-one % (117 patients) made a good recovery. The morbi dity was 12% (17 patients) and the mortality 7% (11 patients). The mos t common cause of unfavorable outcome was surgical complications, whic h accounted for 8% of the total series (12 patients). A subanalysis of these cases did reveal a positive correlation to higher age and more severe SAH on CAT scan.