Lobar intracerebral hemorrhage: etiology and a long-term follow-up study of 32 patients.

Thirty-two patients with lobar hematoma were encountered during a period of six and a half years. Of these patients, 13 had arterial hypertension, 7 had other etiologies, and the remaining 12 were without apparent etiology. In 5 of these patients, cryptic angiomas were suspected from angiograms and CT scans. In one young patient, there was a later recurrence of hemorrhage that resulted in death. Our experience in this series and a review of the literature have led us to conclude that, in young normotensive patients with lobar hematoma, surgical intervention may be a reasonable consideration so that evacuation of the hematoma may be accomplished and a detailed search for small angiomatous malformations may be carried out with a view to preventing recurrences.