A significant cause of intracranial hemorrhage is traumatic brain injury resulting from accidents, falls, or physical assaults. The sudden impact can cause blood vessels within the brain to rupture, leading to bleeding.
Chronic hypertension can weaken blood vessel walls over time, making them more prone to rupture. Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases the risk of intracranial hemorrhage, particularly in small arteries and arterioles within the brain.
An aneurysm is a weakened area in the wall of a blood vessel, which can balloon out and potentially rupture, causing bleeding into the brain. Aneurysms can be congenital or develop over time due to factors such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, or genetic predisposition.
AVM is an abnormal tangle of blood vessels in the brain that bypasses normal brain tissue. The fragile vessels in an AVM can rupture, leading to intracranial hemorrhage.
Sometimes, a stroke caused by a blood clot (ischemic stroke) can lead to hemorrhagic transformation, where the area of ischemia becomes hemorrhagic due to reperfusion injury or secondary bleeding, increasing the risk of intracranial hemorrhage.
This type of bleeding occurs directly into the brain tissue, often due to the rupture of small arteries damaged by conditions such as hypertension, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, or arteriosclerosis.
SAH occurs when blood leaks into the space between the brain and the surrounding membranes (meninges). It is commonly caused by the rupture of an aneurysm or, less frequently, by arteriovenous malformations or head trauma.
Certain medications, such as anticoagulants (blood thinners) or thrombolytics (clot-busting drugs), can increase the risk of intracranial hemorrhage by interfering with the blood's ability to clot properly.
Tumors within the brain or adjacent structures can cause intracranial hemorrhage by disrupting normal blood vessel function or by inducing ischemia and subsequent hemorrhagic transformation.
Disorders affecting blood clotting, such as hemophilia, thrombocytopenia, or liver disease, can predispose individuals to spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage due to impaired clotting mechanisms.