Spontaneous Intra-Cerebral Haemorrhage Presenting with Chest Pain in a Healthy Young Man

Spontaneous, non-traumatic intra-cerebral haemorrhage is the second most common type of stroke and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. It is defined as the presence of blood within the cerebral parenchyma without prior injury or surgery. The purpose of this work is to describe an atypical presentation of spontaneous intra-cerebral haemorrhage in a healthy young adult. A literature review was also carried out.

Learning points: Spontaneous intra-cerebral haemorrhage is a challenge in daily practice due to the wide range of clinical symptoms on presentation.Chest pain mimicking acute myocardial infarction is an atypical presentation of intra-cerebral haemorrhage.In the primary care setting, misdiagnosis of a patient with spontaneous cerebral haemorrhage with chest discomfort suggesting cardiac aetiology and prompting antiplatelet/aspirin therapy could result in disaster.Taking a detailed history and conducting a thorough neurological examination is important in every clinical encounter and may trigger diagnostic suspicion.

Keywords: Acquired haemophilia; eosinophilic fasciitis.