What is a brain bleed?
A brain bleed (intracranial hemorrhage) is a type of
stroke
that causes bleeding in your head.
As your
brain
can’t store oxygen, it relies on a series of
blood vessels
to supply its oxygen and nutrients. When a brain bleed occurs, a blood vessel leaks blood or bursts. Blood collects or pools within your skull and brain. This causes pressure against your brain, which prevents oxygen and nutrients from reaching your brain tissues and cells.
Brain bleeds are common after falls or
traumatic injuries
. They’re also common in people with unmanaged high blood pressure.
A brain bleed is a life-threatening medical emergency. It only takes three to four minutes for your brain cells to die if they don’t receive enough oxygen. Treating a brain bleed quickly leads to the best outcome.
What are the types of brain bleeds?
There are many parts to your brain, so the term “brain bleed” (intracranial hemorrhage) is very broad to healthcare providers. Types of brain bleeds help your healthcare provider identify specifically where the bleeding occurs.
There are two main areas of bleeding:
- Within your skull but outside of brain tissue.
- Inside brain tissue.
To better understand where each type of brain bleed occurs, it helps to know the components within your skull. The brain has three membrane layers (
meninges
) between the bony skull and brain tissue. The three membranes are the dura mater, arachnoid and pia mater. The purpose of the meninges is to cover and protect your brain. Bleeding can occur anywhere between these three membranes.
Types of brain bleeds within your skull but outside of brain tissue include:
- Epidural bleed
:?This bleed happens between the skull bone and the outermost membrane layer, the dura mater.
- Subdural bleed
:
?This bleed happens between the dura mater and the arachnoid membrane.
- Subarachnoid bleed
:?This bleed happens between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater.
There are two types of brain bleeds that occur inside the brain tissue itself:
- Intracerebral hemorrhage
:?This bleeding occurs in the lobes, brainstem and
cerebellum
of your brain. This is bleeding anywhere within the brain tissue itself.
- Intraventricular hemorrhage
:?This bleeding occurs in your brain’s ventricles, which are specific areas of the brain (cavities) where your body makes cerebrospinal fluid (fluid that protects your brain and spinal cord).
Are brain bleeds fatal?
Brain bleeds can be life-threatening and cause permanent brain damage. The severity and outcome of a brain bleed depend on its cause, location inside of your skull, size of the bleed, the amount of time that passes between the bleed and treatment. Once brain cells die, they don’t come back. Damage can be severe and result in physical, mental and task-based disability.
How common is a brain bleed?
Brain bleeds are a type of stroke. More than 795,000 people in the United States experience a stroke each year.