RESUMEN
The purpose of this study was to analyze both the clinical and tomographic aspects of the hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease (HCd), associated with hypertensive crisis in adults under 50 years of age. Forty six patients, who were not under anticoagulant therapy, were not using illegal drugs, who had not a cerebral tumor disease, and who had neither arteriovenous malformations nor past traumatic episodes, were studied. Seventy eight percent of the patients had preexisted arterial hypertension, 30% of them had at least a previous emergency for a hypertensive crisis. Mortality for intracerebral hematoma (ICH) and for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was 21% and 23% respectively. In 68% of the cases, ICH was located in the deep structures of the brain. Asymmetric ventricular system, compression or the absence of mesencephalic cisterna were significantly associated (p > 0.01; p > 0.001 respectively) with higher mortality. There was not a significant difference between the deceased and the survivors in relation with their systolic and diastolic arterial pressure on admission to the emergency unit. A significant positive relation was found between the severity of the injury (percentage of patients with an Scale Coma Glasgow < or = 8 points) and the mortality percentage for the type of HCd (r = 0.81 for ICH; p < 0.001, r = 0.98 for SAH; p < 0.001). Age and a low Scale Coma Glasgow score on the admission, represent unfavorable prognostic factors. Due to the different criteria used to evaluate the tomographic characteristics of intracerebral hematomas, comparisons of the present results with other findings can be difficult.