Evaluation of misdiagnosed cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage and causal factors for misdiagnosis.

BACKGROUND

Diagnosis has a major impact on the outcome of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). We studied patients with SAH who were admitted to our hospital in an effort to identify ways to prevent misdiagnosis.

METHODS

A total of 494 patients with SAH were admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery from 2003 through 2010. Misdiagnosis occurred in 30 patients (6.1%). We studied the symptoms and the types of misdiagnoses in these 30 patients.

RESULTS

Misdiagnosis occurred 37 times in the 30 patients (6 patients were given more than 1 misdiagnosis). There were 3 types of misdiagnoses. Type 1 cases were misdiagnosed as a common cold, type 2 cases were misdiagnosed as circulatory organ disease, and type 3 cases were misdiagnosed as digestive organ disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Type 1 cases were mild, and diagnosis required detailed medical history analyses. Type 2 cases were severe and were diagnosed based on electrocardiographic and echocardiographic changes characteristic of SAH. Symptoms of type 3 cases included vomiting, and diagnosis required recognition of meningeal irritation syndrome and detailed medical history analyses.