A subarachnoid haemorrhage is a sudden leak of blood over the surface of the brain.  This effects over 8,000 people in England every year.

 In the majority of cases there is a brain aneurism,  the people at the greater risk are those with high blood pressure and people who smoke. The injury is more common as people get older however a brain aneurysm can also occur in people with no known risk factors.

The bleed can often happen at a time of physical effort such as coughing, going to the toilet, heavy lifting or straining or during sex. The symptoms in many people include a sudden, severe headache at the back of the head followed by being sick. The headache usually persists for more than an hour. In more severe cases, the person may collapse and lose consciousness some people can have fits.

For most people suffering from a subarachnoid haemorrhage they do not know what the problem is.  There usually carted off to accident and emergency department and the Diagnosis is not so straightforward.

Patients may arrive at the hospital suffering from a severe headache of sudden which may have cleared or the patient may be in a coma.

Accident and emergency doctors should be fully aware of the warning symptoms which usually give an indication of a bleed in the brain and shouldn’t  ignore the relatively minor ones.  Even so diagnosis is sometimes missed even by specialist neurologists and neurosurgeons. 

Subdural Haemorrhage and extradural haemorrhage are two other examples of frequently misdiagnosed brain haemorrhage. 

 • Subdural haemorrhage – often slowly evolving, frequently starting after trauma to the head with elderly people being particularly susceptible.

• Extradural haemorrhage – usually occurs, after a head injury and frequently as a result of a contact sports injuries.

Most medical negligence cases arise due to the misdiagnosis of the above conditions and in the treatment of these cases.  Many mistakes have been reported in the treatment of Subarachnoid haemorrhage.  In cases where operations to repair the brain aneurism have been negligently performed it is possible to claim for compensation with large awards expected.