[Cocaine and cerebrovascular disease in young adults]

The use of cocaine has been increasingly associated with cerebrovascular disease specially in young adults. We review the cases of stroke related to cocaine abuse in this group.

We performed a retrospective study between 1989-1998. Data were obtained from the Young Adults Stroke Registry. To investigate the etiology of stroke all patients underwent cardiologic examination, coagulation and neuroimaging tests.

We identified 13 patients under 45 years of age with stroke related to cocaine abuse (0.39% of all strokes and 7.60% of the ones in young adults). Mean age in this group was 28.30 years. Eight developed ischemic manifestations (5 infarcts, 2 TIAs and 1 encephalopathy with multiple ischemic lesions), 4 had intraparenchymal hemorrhages and 1 had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. The principal route of administration was intranasal and the time course from cocaine use to stroke ranged from several hours to several years. 61.53% had history of other drug abuse and in 84.61% other risk factors were identified. Angiographic studies demonstrated: arterial occlusions (3 cases), changes consistent with vasospasm (1), segmental narrowing (1) and arterial wall irregularities (1). No aneurysms or arterio-venous malformations were found. The frequency of cocaine-related stroke in young adults has decreased from 8.33% in 1989 to 5% in 1998.

Cocaine is a well known cause of stroke, specially in young adults. In most cases other risk factors can be identified. Multiple overlapping mechanisms may be involved (vasospasm-thrombosis, high blood pressure, embolism.