I mprovement of diagnosis and treatment methods of acute cerebrovascular events (ACEs) as a part of national healthcare programs enabled to reduce the mortality rate in different forms of stroke, including one of the most severe ACE types, subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), to which in particular surgical activity contributed [1].
Development of the three-level resuscitation system for patients after the stroke allowed to reduce post-ACE disability; however, besides the apparent neurological symptoms that can be clinically diagnosed easily and precisely, cognitive and mental disorders have a significant adverse impact on the social, household, and labor readaptation of patients.
Pathophysiological processes in the brain resulting from aneurysmal subarachnoid and parenchymal hemorrhage as well as the delayed cerebral ischemia due to the angiospasm lead to the development of focal damage to the brain tissue. Besides cerebral ischemia foci, the disseminated ischemia damage sites develop in the brain, which leads to cognitive dysfunctions and/or focal neurological disorders in the long term.
The study of the remote findings of the cerebral aneurysm surgeries suggested that cognitive and mental disorders in patients are frequently diagnosed even if the neurological functions have reversed and there is no disability and the person is able of self-care [2].
The development of mental and psychoneurological disorders that include such common manifestations as anxiety and depression are an additional factor that triggers the cognitive dysfunction and degrades the life quality of the patients who underwent surgical intervention for cerebral aneurysm [3].
Post-stroke depression is diagnosed in a third of patients after ACE [4]. The chronization mechanisms of this syndrome are understudied. Patients with post-stroke depression that persisted for 6 months showed cortex foci more frequently and had a higher disability rate, compared with those who had resolved the depression. Post-stroke depression is associated with a more advanced age, female sex, and marital status (widowhood) [5, 6].