The annual incidence of non-traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) varies from 2 to 22 per 100,000.
1 The incidence in women is almost twice as high as in men. Primary SAH usually results from rupture of a saccular aneurysm or arteriovenous malformations. Electrocardiographic changes occur during the acute stage in 50 to 100% of SAH cases.
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4 The most common abnormalities are non-specific ST deviations, T-wave inversion and prolonged QT interval. These ECG changes have no clinical or prognostic consequence. Elevated troponin is found in approximately 20% of SAH cases and is associated with an increased risk of hypotension, pulmonary oedema, left ventricular dysfunction and delayed cerebral ischaemia.
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