There is an upward trend in the incidence of spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (sSAH) occurring during pregnancy in the US, according to a recent study, which also found a disproportionate increase in incidence of sSAH in African-American and younger mothers. Outcomes were better for both pregnant and non-pregnant women treated at teaching hospitals and in pregnant women in general as compared to non-pregnant women. A retrospective analysis was performed utilizing the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) and Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project for the years 2002-2014 for sSAH hospitalizations. Researchers found:

• During the time period, there were 73,692 admissions for sSAH in women aged 15-49 years, of which 3,978 (5.4%) occurred during pregnancy.
• The proportion of sSAH during pregnancy hospitalizations increased from 4.16 % to 6.33% during the 12 years of the study.
• African-American (8.19%) and Hispanic (7.11%) women had higher rates of sSAH during pregnancy than white women (3.83%).
• In the NIS data, the incidence of sSAH increased from 5.4/100,000 deliveries (2002) to 8.5/100,000 deliveries (2014).
• Mortality was lower in pregnant women (7.69% vs 17.37%).