[Natural history and operative treatment of intracranial aneurysms after subarachnoid haemorrhage (author's transl)].

This report presents an evaluation of prognosis in 227 patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage caused by intracranial aneurysm, comparing operative treatment in 118 patients with conservative treatment in 109. In all operable cases, the prognosis following early surgery was better than that of conservative treatment. Statistical comparison of patient groups according to the clinical condition allowed the formation of guidelines for the optimal timing of surgery: patients in good clinical condition should be operated on at the earliest possible moment. The overall mortality with such a policy is lower than with a waiting policy, since the majority of recurrences occurred within 2 weeks. Patients with disturbed consciousness and neurological deficit are best operated on either within 24 hours or following stabilization or improvement of the clinical picture -- mostly after 2 weeks. The risk of rebleeding is much lower in these cases, which justifies awaiting optimum clinical conditions. Surgery on comatose patients is contraindicated.