Prevalence and incidence of intracranial haemorrhage in a population of children with haemophilia

The prevalence of intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) in our population of haemophiliacs was 12%. The incidence of ICH was approximately 2% per year. At entry, 7% (21/309) had clinical histories of ICH without MRI evidence of old haemorrhage, indicating that either the haemorrhages had completely resolved, that routine MRI sequences are not particularly sensitive for the detection of old blood products, or a combination of both of these factors. One half (4/8) of the ICHs documented by entry MRI were clinically silent, and three of the 11 incident cases documented by MRI were clinically silent. HIV infection did not increase the risk of ICH.