Association of Opium Addiction with Rupture of Intracranial Aneurysms: A Case-Control Study

Disorders related to opioid use account for the most substantial burden of disease attributable to drug use disorders. We aimed to justify if there is an association between either opium consumption or addiction and rupture of intracranial aneurysms.

In this case-control study, we enrolled 50 cases with ruptured intracranial aneurysms and 43 control subjects with an incidental finding of an intracranial aneurysm without history of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Four major risk factors of rupture including age, sex, size, and site of aneurysm were matched among both groups. All participants were asked about cigarette smoking state, opium addiction, opium consumption, and duration and route of opium consumption. Eight other trigger factors were assessed in the period soon before SAH (hazard period). The odds ratio (OR) of all factors was calculated separately, and then a logistic regression for the factors with significant odds was calculated.

Sixty-two percent of cases and 32.6% of control subjects were addicted to opium. The OR for opium consumption in the hazard period was 8.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2-30.1) and for opium addiction was 3.3 (95% CI, 1.4-7.9). Of those trigger factors, cola consumption was included in the logistic regression model. After adjustment, results demonstrated an OR of 9.2 (95% CI, 2.4-34.7) for opium consumption in the hazard period.

There is an association between opium addiction and opium consumption in the hazard period with the occurrence of aneurysmal SAH. Replication of the study with a larger sample size and conduction of prospective studies is suggested.