Intraventricular hemorrhage: role of early ventricular drainage.

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is usually the result of life-threatening intracranial bleedings eventually leading to death. Early ventricular drainage is suggested as a possible means of reducing fatalities. The retrospective analysis of 80 patients with CT diagnosed IVHs has indeed shown that early drainage prolongs significantly survival before death but does not influence mortality. Clinical and CT grading still remain fundamental prognostic indexes accounting for the irreversible hemorrhagic lesion. Thus ICP monitoring and ventricular drainage may be useful only in selected patients with alterations of consciousness of intermediate severity and sluggish evolution.