Vitreous hemorrhage after intracranial hemorrhage.

Eight patients, aged 2 months to 55 years, developed vitreous hemorrhages as a result of subarachnoid or subdural bleeding. Subhyaloid hemorrhages were associated with, or preceded, hemorrhage into the vitreous cavity in four cases. Most vitreous hemorrhages cleared spontaneously, several months later, without major visual sequelae. In one patient, intravitreal blood persisted after 28 months. Vitreous hemorrhage can be a serious complication in patients surviving subarachnoid or subdural hemorrhages and, though uncommon, probably occurs with greater frequency than previously acknowledged. While vitrectomy may be a reasonable therapeutic approach in selected cases, in most instances vitreous hemorrhage following intracranial hemorrhage should be treated conservatively.

Duke Scholars

Author Harold Ellis Shaw Jr. Ophthalmology