Grading scale for prediction of outcome in primary intracerebral hemorrhages.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study aimed to independently derive an intracerebral hemorrhage grading scale (ICH-GS) for prediction of 3 outcome measures.

METHODS: We evaluated 378 patients with primary ICH at hospital arrival and during the next 30 days. Independent predictors were identified by multivariate models of in-hospital and 30-day mortality. Points were allotted to each predictor based on its prognostic performance. ICH-GS was also evaluated to predict good 30-day functional status and ICH-GS was compared with the ICH score as the reference scoring system.

RESULTS: Independent predictors were age, Glasgow Coma Scale, ICH location, ICH volume, and intraventricular extension, all components of the ICH score. Nevertheless, different cutoffs and scoring improved substantially the prognostic power of the predictors. Compared with the ICH score, ICH-GS explained more variance in the 3 outcome measures, had higher sensitivity in predicting in-hospital and 30-day mortality, and performed equally well in predicting good functional outcome at 30 days follow up.

CONCLUSIONS: The derived ICH-GS is a simple yet robust scale in predicting in-hospital and 30-day mortality, as well as good 30-day functional status, with equivalent performance.