Brainstem Hemorrhage: Symptoms, Risks & How It’s Treated

Among intracerebral haemorrhages, spontaneous brainstem haemorrhage is the most deadly subtype and is always linked to a negative outcome. Hemorrhage in the brainstem that is especially related to chronic hypertension but is not connected to specific or observable lesions such arteriovenous malformations and cavernous malformation. Its clinical features include significant death and disability, fast progression, and sudden start. Brainstem is the deep brain structure that connects the brain to the spinal cord. Brainstem has three parts; midbrain, pons and medulla. Brainstem control body functions such as;

• Regulate heart rate, breathing, blood pressure
• Swallowing food
• Eye movements
• Sensations and muscle movements of the body especially facial muscle
• Hearing

Brainstem hemorrhage is an uncommon type of intracerebral hemorrhage. Making up 6 to 10% of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage, and its death rate varies from 30 to 90% according to the research being conducted.

Symptoms of Brainstem Hemorrhage

Brainstem hemorrhage symptoms immediately after the hemorrhage or stroke or later such as:

• Headache: Severe uncontrolled headache like thunderclap.
• Dizziness: Spinning sensation and unbalance.
• Vision problem: Problem in vision like blurry vision, double vision or loss of vision.
• Speech difficulty: Trouble with understanding speech or slurred speech
• Confusion: Disorientation and loss of thinking ability.
• Weakness or numbness: Tingling sensation on one side of the body on face, arm and leg.
• Difficulty in Swallowing: Due to the weakness of the muscle chewing, swallowing food becomes very difficult.
• Nausea and vomiting: Too much bleeding in the brain or leads to vomiting. Vomiting occurs at the onset of the stroke.
• Abnormal heart rate: Fluctuation in heart rate during stroke.
• Loss of balance and coordination: Difficulty in standing and walking which increase risk of fall. Loss control over muscle movement.
• Memory Issues: Problem to recall names, places or things.
• Depression: After stroke depression anxiety is very common because of not being able to live like before stroke or hemorrhage.
• Trouble Walking:  After stroke walking patter is changed, patients are not able to walk like before and balance is also lost.
• Excessive Sleepiness: Excessive sleep is common in some individuals after brainstem hemorrhage.
• Seizure: Seizures are common in hemorrhagic stroke. This can occur within 24 hours of onset of hemorrhage.
• Loss of Body Sensation: A person affected by brainstem stroke could find it harder to detect pain or changes in temperature. Only certain bodily parts, such as the face, arms, chest, tongue or other part of the body, may experience this feeling.