Risk of death from brain hemorrhage is lower at high-volume hospitals, a new study shows. Study results, published in the November issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, indicate that survival rates are better for patients suffering from a severe type of stroke called subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

The report from Dr. Shyam Prabhakaran of Northwestern University, Chicago and colleagues, indicates that the mortality rate from SAH is approximately one-fifth lower at high-volume hospitals after adjustment for other factors. The researchers said in a statement, “Our data suggest that experienced centers may provide more optimized care for SAH patients.”

The researchers identified almost 32,000 patients with SAH treated at 685 U.S. hospitals between 2003 and 2012 using data from a national quality improvement program (Get With the Guidelines-Stroke registry). SAH is a form of stroke that involves bleeding into the brain, most commonly caused by a ruptured aneurysm.

The study compared mortality rates and related outcomes for patients being treated at hospitals with different volumes of SAH patients. The number of SAH cases treated annually varied from four at the lowest-volume hospitals to 13 or more at the hospitals with the highest volumes.

According to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, SAH survivors typically have a much longer recovery period than patients with unruptured aneurysms.