Etiology and Pathogenesis > Invasion | Treatment > Cerebral Edema

Abstract

Cysteinyl-leukotriene levels in intracerebral hemorrhage: an edema-promoting factor?

Winking M, Deinsberger W, Joedicke A, Boeker DK

Neurosurgical Clinic, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany. michael.winking@neuro.med.uni-giessen.de

In 12 operatively (stereotactic aspiration and recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator, rTPA) and 5 conservatively treated patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage the amounts of cysteinyl-leukotriene (cys-LT) released by blood-brain cell contact were measured by the urinary excretion of their metabolites during treatment.
The mean cys-LT release before treatment was 14.51 +/- 1.13 pg/mg creatinine/ml hematoma volume.
The urinary cys-LT excretion at the end of the measurements was significantly lower in the operatively treated group than in the patients with conservative therapy (p < 0.05).
We also found a significant correlation between the perifocal edema volume and the amount of cys-LT measured in patients' urine (p < 0.01).
In an additional animal experiment using dissociated rat brain cells plasmin was excluded as an activator for cerebral cys-LT formation, which emphasizes that rTPA did not influence cys-LT formation.

PMID: 9774748 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]