Cranial nerve lesions following subarachnoid hemorrhage and aneurysm of the circle of Willis.

Fifty-eight of 570 patients with an aneurysm and/or subarachnoid hemorrhage displayed palsy of one or several cranial nerves. In 48 patients, this lesion occurred in the context of SAH (total n = 534). The oculomotor nerve was most frequently affected (38 cases), followed by the abducens nerve with the second-highest incidence (18 cases). The highest rate of cranial nerve symptoms occurred in cases of ophthalmic carotid aneurysms (83.3%). Damage to the abducens nerve regressed most rapidly.