Clinico-radiological Characteristics of Spontaneous Basal Ganglia Hemorrhage, According to Regional Classification

OBJECTIVE The clinico-radiologic features of the spontaneous basal ganglia hemorrhage (BGH) may often differ one from another, according to its regional location. Therefore, we attempted to classify the BGH into regional subgroups, and to extrapolate the distinct characteristics of each group of BGH. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 103 BGHs were analyzed by retrospective review of medical records. BGH was classified according to four subgroups; anterior BGH; posterior BGH; lateral BGH; massive BGH. RESULTS The most common BGH was the posterior BGH (56, 54.4%), followed by the lateral BGH (26, 25.2%), the massive BGH (12, 11.7%), and the anterior BGH (9, 8.7%). The shape of hemorrhage tended to be round in anterior, irregular in posterior, and ovoid in lateral BGH. A layered density of hematoma on initial computed tomography showed correlation with hematoma expansion (p = 0.016), which was observed more often in the postero-lateral group of BGH than in the anterior BGH group. Relatively better recovery from the initial insult was observed in the lateral BGH group than in the other regional BGH groups. The proportion of poor outcome (modified Rankin scale 4, 5, 6) was 100% in the massive, 41.1% in the posterior, 34.6% in the lateral, and 0% in the anterior BGH group. CONCLUSION We observed that BGH can be grouped according to its regional location and each group may have distinct characteristics. Thus, a more sophisticated clinical strategy tailored to each group of BGHs can be implemented.