Testing the ICH score.

Abstract

To the Editor: Hemphill et al1 present an analysis of 161 patients carried out to determine a reliable grading score for the prediction of 30-day mortality in patients following a spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Factors independently associated with 30-day mortality were Glasgow Coma Score, age >80 years, ICH volume, ICH of infratentorial position, and presence of intraventricular hemorrhage. A score based on these variables was assigned to each patient. All patients within their dataset with an ICH score of 0 survived, and all patients with a score of 5 (highest score assigned) died. Hemphill et al restricted the testing of the scoring system to the data that produced it. We were interested in whether this scoring system could be of similar predictive value in patients treated in our unit. From 1994 to date, all patients admitted following a spontaneous supratentorial ICH have been recorded on a prospective database and followed up to 6 months after ictus. Although we do not have specific mortality at 30 days, we have recorded outcome at neurosurgical discharge, which was on average 2 to 4 weeks after ictus. Up to August 1999, 440 …