[Cerebral hemorrhages and infarcts following use of cocaine]

With increasing abuse of cocaine and purity of this drug, the incidence of strokes in relatively young people is also increasing. We describe two patients, one 29 years, the other one 33 years old. Both were well-known cocaine users. The first patient presented with an intracranial haemorrhage; the computed tomography of the brain is shown. The second patient showed a cerebral ischaemic infarction. The most frequent vascular complications are described. The physiological backgrounds of cerebrovascular accidents are given. Use of cocaine can be suggested by the presence of benzoylecgonine in urine samples.