Cardiac arrhythmia as initial presentation of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death are most frequently caused by preexisti ng heart disease. Rarely, cardiac arrhythmia is a first symptom of an acute neurological event. We describe a patient with asystole and other cardiac arrhythmias, as initial symptoms of acute aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhag e. Several aspects of cardiac arrhythmias and acute aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage are discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserv ed.