Survival Outcomes After Intracranial Hemorrhage in Liver Disease

Background Survival outcomes for patients with liver disease who suffer an intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) have not been thoroughly investigated. Objective To understand survival outcomes for 3 groups: (1) patients with an admission diagnosis of liver disease (end-stage liver disease [ESLD] or non-ESLD) who developed an ICH in the hospital, (2) patients with ESLD who undergo either operative vs nonoperative management, and (3) patients with ESLD on the liver transplant waitlist who developed an ICH in the hospital. Methods We retrospectively reviewed hospital charts from March 2006 through February 2017 of patients with liver disease and an ICH evaluated by the neurosurgery service at a single academic medical center. The primary outcome was survival. Results We included a total of 53 patients in this study. The overall survival for patients with an admission diagnosis of liver disease who developed an ICH (n = 29, 55%) in the hospital was 22%. Of those patients with an admission diagnosis of liver disease, 27 patients also had ESLD. Kaplan-Meier analysis found no significant difference in survival for ESLD patients (n = 33, 62%) according to operative status. There were 11 ESLD patients on the liver transplant waitlist. The overall survival for patients with ESLD on the liver transplant waitlist who suffered an in-hospital ICH (n = 7, 13%) was 14%. Conclusion ICH in the setting of liver disease carries a grave prognosis. Also, a survival advantage for surgical hematoma evacuation in ESLD patients is not clear.