Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Stroke

Is spot sign the answer for intracerebral haemorrhage?

Intracerebral haemorrhage continues to carry a poor prognosis despite several recent therapeutic clinical trials. A study has demonstrated that CT angiography of the brain on admission can predict haematoma expansion and clinical outcome. This CT 'spot sign' could, therefore, help physicians to select patients who are likely to benefit from treatment.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Mayer, S. A. et al. Efficacy and safety of recombinant activated factor VII for acute intracerebral hemorrhage. N. Engl. J. Med. 358, 2127–2137 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Morgan, T. et al. Preliminary findings of the minimally-invasive surgery plus rtPA for intracerebral hemorrhage evacuation (MISTIE) clinical trial. Acta Neurochir. Suppl. 105, 147–151 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Demchuk. A. M. et al. Prediction of haematoma growth and outcome in patients with intracerebral haemorrhage using the CT-angiography spot sign (PREDICT): a prospective observational study. Lancet Neurol. 11, 307–314 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Delgado Almandoz, J. E. et al. Systematic characterization of the computed tomography angiography spot sign in primary intracerebral hemorrhage identifies patients at highest risk for hematoma expansion: the spot sign score. Stroke 40, 2994–3000 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Wada, R. et al. CT angiography “spot sign” predicts hematoma expansion in acute intracerebral hemorrhage. Stroke 38, 1257–1262 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Li, N. et al. Contrast extravasation on computed tomography angiography predicts clinical outcome in primary intracerebral hemorrhage: a prospective study of 139 cases. Stroke 42, 3441–3446 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Goldstein, J. N. et al. Contrast extravasation on CT angiography predicts hematoma expansion in intracerebral hemorrhage. Neurology 68, 889–894 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Delgado Almandoz, J. E. et al. The spot sign score in primary intracerebral hemorrhage identifies patients at highest risk of in-hospital mortality and poor outcome among survivors. Stroke 41, 54–60 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ederies, A. et al. Postcontrast CT extravasation is associated with hematoma expansion in CTA spot negative patients. Stroke 40, 1672–1676 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Romero, J. M. et al. Spot sign score predicts rapid bleeding in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. Emerg. Radiol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10140-012-1020-9.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Romero, J. Is spot sign the answer for intracerebral haemorrhage?. Nat Rev Neurol 8, 300–301 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2012.93

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2012.93

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing