[Intracranial hemorrhage in patients undergoing anticoagulant treatment with acenocoumarol].

Between 1980 and 1985, 2,012 patients treated with acenocoumarol were followed up. 31 of them had intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), representing an incidence of 1.54%. Its mortality rate was as high as 45%. The most common indication of anticoagulant therapy was cardiac valvular disease. No precipitating factors or concomitant hemorrhages in other sites were detected. Most patients with ICH were, at the time of the accident, within the therapeutic anticoagulant range. The most common localization of ICH was intraparenchymal; most of them developed after one year of anticoagulant therapy. In 32% of instances there was previous hypertension and previous stroke in 26%. ICH had a three times greater incidence in patients over 65 years. The patients who died showed larger hematomas than survivors in computed tomography.