Nontraumatic Spontaneous Bilateral Basal Ganglia Hemorrhage: A Rare Case Report

A 62-year-old man with a past medical history of uncontrolled hypertension, tobacco abuse, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) presented to the emergency department due to worsening confusion over the last 24 hours as reported by a friend. A CT brain without contrast was obtained, which demonstrated a bilateral intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Spontaneous bilateral intracerebral hemorrhage is an exceedingly rare condition with only 30-40 reported cases. This patient had a non-traumatic ICH, without focal neurological deficits on presentation. The patient had no complications while hospitalized despite the imaging findings. Clinicians should keep a broad differential similar to causes of spontaneous non-traumatic unilateral ICH, including uncontrolled hypertension, tumor mass, coagulopathies, and vasculopathies. Although brain CT is the most appropriate study in the acute setting, MRI is the gold standard for definitive diagnosis and should be performed urgently to further characterize the lesions. Clinicians should be aware of non-traumatic ICH complications, which include aspiration pneumonia, quadriparesis, hemiparesis, and recurrent stroke. Management is supportive mainly by reducing risk factors for complications, including blood pressure control, aspiration precautions, reversing coagulopathies, frequent neurological checks, and consultation with multiple disciplines such as neurosurgery or neurointerventional radiology.