Electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage

Background: Stroke is frequently followed by electrocardiographic changes. Although electrocardiographic abnormalities are well known in ischemic stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage, these changes have only rarely been investigated systematically in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence and characterization of ECG abnormalities in a consecutive series of ICH patients who had no history of heart disease. Methods: The study was retrospective, and 304 intracerebral hemorrhage patients who met the study criteria were entered in the study. The ECG changes of the 304 acute hemorrhagic stroke patients without primary heart disease were analyzed. The relationship among the electrocardiographic abnormalities, the location of hematoma, and the clinical outcome were investigated to determine cardiac involvement in the cerebral hemorrhage in these patients. Results: A total of 304 patients were included. Two hundred and four patients (67.1%) had one or more ECG abnormalities. These changes included morphological waveform changes and arrhythmias, such as QTc prolongation, ST-T morphological changes, sinus bradycardia, inverted T wave, and conduction block. These ECG changes were not related to the level of the cerebral lesion, but were related to its location and the outcome. Conclusions: Electrocardiographic abnormalities frequently occur after intracerebral hemorrhage, and these changes were not related to the level of the cerebral lesion, but were related to the location of the cerebral lesion and the outcome. © 2011 Springer-Verlag/Wien.