When you are buying a house, it’s not the size of the house that matters most, but it’s location. Same is true for head bleeds. Compare two images above (click on the image to see a larger version). Who do you think will have more deficits? Surprisingly, the person with a smaller bleed is more disabled. The bleed of the similar size in the brainstem could be lethal. The four most common risk factors we see in our patients are:

1. High blood pressure
2. Anticoagulation therapy (Coumadin, Warfarin, Lovenox etc)
3. Amyloid angiopathy (brittle blood vessels from aging)
4. Antiplatelet therapy (Aspirin, Plavix etc)

Some patients might also have cerebral aneurisms or blood vessel malformations leading to bleeding.
Regardless of the size or location of the bleed – it’s never a good thing to happen!