Brain Hemorrhage

Brain Hemorrhages may occur in different locations of the brain depending on what caused them. There are many different causes of a brain hemorrhage including:

• Head trauma
• High blood pressure
• Aneurysms (balloon-like out-pouching of blood vessels that often form at the base of the brain)
• Arteriovenous malformations (also known as A-V malformations which are formed by abnormally connected blood vessels that may rupture)

Several different types of brain hemorrhages can occur due to brain trauma:

• Subdural hemorrhages form just underneath the “dura”, which is the outer fibrous covering of the brain
• Epidural hemorrhages occur due to brain trauma and are located outside the “dura” covering just beneath the skull; this type of brain trauma is typically associated with skull fractures.
• Subarachnoid hemorrhages occur along the surface of the brain just underneath a thinner fibrous membrane, which is just under the “dura” and immediately over the surface of the brain. If a hemorrhage were to occur in this region, it may result in blood being present in the spinal fluid. A laboratory analysis, spinal tap, or lumbar puncture, may confirm the blood being present.

Medication may also cause hemorrhages. Coumadin, which is an anticoagulant or “blood thinner” may be given to patients to prevent blood clots from forming in the heart following an operation, or should a doctor detect the presence of certain abnormalities of the heartbeat, or to prevent blood clots from forming in the leg veins.

Using the same dose of Coumadin may not always produce the same results; in fact, it may cause different levels of anticoagulation. Doctors may often perform a “protime” which is a laboratory test that measures the response to Coumadin.

If too much Coumadin were introduced to the body, sometimes the result may be over-anticoagulation which may cause a brain hemorrhage. Brain hemorrhages caused by Coumadin are often subarachnoid and in a “worst case scenario” may be sudden, large and rapidly debilitating, or fatal. There are other occurrences where the brain hemorrhage may be smaller, occurring intermittently, causing headaches, neck pain, nausea, vomiting, alteration of vision, and other neurologic symptoms. A doctor should watch for any of these symptoms to successfully diagnose an early brain hemorrhage and prevent further damage which may be disabling or fatal. If the early warning signs were missed or misdiagnosed, the hemorrhage may worsen and cause major neurologic injury, paralysis, or death.

Sweeney Law Firm will work with medical specialists to determine if injury or death occurred as a result of medical malpractice, and advise you of your legal options. If malpractice occurred, the Sweeney Law Firm may be able to recover monetary damages to help pay the enormous expenses and other damages resulting from brain or spinal cord hemorrhage as well as compensate you and your family for your pain and suffering and permanent disability.