Obstetric Medicine > Volume 2, Number 4 > Pp. 142-148

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Review articles

Intracranial haemorrhage in pregnancy

Jacob M Fairhall BSc (Med) MBBS   ^* and Marcus A Stoodley PhD FRACS   ^*  

^* Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, University of NSW; Australian School of Advanced Medicine, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Correspondence to: Marcus A Stoodley, The Australian School of Advanced Medicine, Level 1, Dow Corning Building, 3 Innovation Road, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia Email: marcus.stoodley{at}asam.mq.edu.au

Intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) is a rare, yet potentially devastating event in pregnancy. There is a risk of maternal mortality or morbidity and a significant risk to the unborn child. The risk of haemorrhage increases during the third trimester and is greatest during parturition and the puerperium. ICH can be extradural, subdural, subarachnoid or intraparenchymal. Causes of bleeding include trauma, arteriovenous malformations, aneurysms, preeclampsia/eclampsia and venous thrombosis. Urgent neurosurgical conditions generally outweigh obstetric considerations in management decisions, although anaesthetic and surgical modifications can be made to minimize adverse effects to the fetus.

Key Words: stroke • intracerebral haemorrhage • pregnancy • cerebral aneurysms • subarachnoid haemorrhage • arteriovenous malformations

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