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Cannabis use may influence etiology, symptoms of ischemic stroke
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Patients with ischemic stroke who reported using cannabis exhibited different stroke etiologies and clinical symptoms at admission compared with nonusers, according to new data in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“The recent increased incidence of stroke in the young has partly been related to lifestyle risk factors, and a temporal relationship between cannabis exposure … and the occurrence of CV events has been recently reported,” the researchers wrote. “However, clinical and prognostic characteristics of [ischemic stroke] patients who are current cannabis users and non-cannabis users were not analyzed previously.”
The analysis included data collected from 334 consecutive patients aged younger than 45 years who were hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke at a single facility in France between 2005 and 2014. Patients who reported cannabis use (n = 58) were compared with patients who were nonusers (n = 276). Prognosis at 3 months was assessed in both groups.
Among nonusers of cannabis, cardioemoblism was the most frequent cause of ischemic stroke (29.3% vs. 13.8%; P = .015), whereas intracranial arterial stenosis was the most frequent cause among users (44.8% vs. 14.5%; P < .00001). On admission, cannabis users were more likely to exhibit visual disorders (34.5% of patients vs. 21.7%; P = .039), whereas nonusers were more likely to exhibit aphasia (32.6% vs. 19%; P = .04). Motor deficit occurred at similar rates between the groups, and both users and nonusers had similar degrees of functional independence.
The researchers noted that the two groups exhibited similarly favorable prognoses at 3 months (P = .38), with 63.5% of users and 55.8% of nonusers exhibiting no symptoms at follow-up. Five patients died within the cohort, including two cannabis users and three nonusers.
“Fighting stroke must remain a priority, including in young adults,” the researchers wrote. “The first step may be to inform the public regarding the potential occurrence of stroke associated with cannabis use and other lifestyle risk factors, particularly nowadays when cannabis use is encouraged by new legislations worldwide.” – by Adam Taliercio
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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