Cardiac dysfunction in patients affected by subarachnoid haemorrhage affects in-hospital mortality

Abstract

BACKGROUND Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is a life-threatening condition with associated brain damage. Moreover, SAH is associated with a massive release of catecholamines, which may promote cardiac injury and dysfunction, possibly leading to haemodynamic instability, which in turn may influence a patient's outcome. OBJECTIVES To study the prevalence of cardiac dysfunction (as assessed by echocardiography) in patients with SAH and its effect on clinical outcomes. DESIGN Systematic review of observational studies. DATA SOURCES We performed a systematic search over the last 20 years on MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA Studies reporting echocardiography findings in adult patients with SAH admitted to intensive care. Primary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and poor neurological outcome according to the presence or absence of cardiac dysfunction. RESULTS We included a total of 23 studies (4 retrospective) enrolling 3511 patients. The cumulative frequency of cardiac dysfunction was 21% (725 patients), reported as regional wall motion abnormality in the vast majority of studies (63%). Due to the heterogeneity of clinical outcome data reporting, a quantitative analysis was carried out only for in-hospital mortality. Cardiac dysfunction was associated with a higher in-hospital mortality [odds ratio 2.69 (1.64 to 4.41); P < 0.001; I 2 = 63%]. The GRADE of evidence assessment resulted in very low certainty of evidence. CONCLUSION About one in five patients with SAH develops cardiac dysfunction, which seems to be associated with higher in-hospital mortality. The consistency of cardiac and neurological data reporting is lacking, reducing the comparability of the studies in this field.