Coarctation of the aorta as a cause of spinal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Case report.

Abstract

✓ A 40-year-old man with coarctation of the aorta suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage but bilateral carotid and vertebral angiography as well as air ventriculography failed to demonstrate the source of bleeding. Postmortem examination showed the hemorrhage was due to rupture of a large collateral vessel on the surface of the spinal cord. The high incidence of berry aneurysms in patients with aortic coarctation is well known but where no lesion is shown intracranially, attention should be drawn to the intraspinal collateral circulation as a second possible source of subarachnoid hemorrhage.