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Case Report| Volume 23, ISSUE 5, P1239-1241, May 2014

Synthetic Cannabis and Acute Ischemic Stroke

Published:October 10, 2013DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2013.07.030
Synthetic Cannabis and Acute Ischemic Stroke
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      An association between marijuana use and stroke has been previously reported. However, the health risks of newer synthetic cannabinoid compounds are less well known. We describe 2 cases that introduce a previously unreported association between synthetic cannabis use and ischemic stroke in young adults. A 22-year-old woman presented with dysarthria, left hemiplegia, and left hemianesthesia within hours of first use of synthetic cannabis. She was healthy and without identified stroke risk factors other than oral contraceptive use and a patent foramen ovale without venous thromboses. A 26-year-old woman presented with nonfluent aphasia, left facial droop, and left hemianesthesia approximately 12 hours after first use of synthetic cannabis. Her other stroke risk factors included migraine with aura, oral contraceptive use, smoking, and a family history of superficial thrombophlebitis. Both women were found to have acute, large-territory infarctions of the right middle cerebral artery. Our 2 cases had risk factors for ischemic stroke but were otherwise young and healthy and the onset of their deficits occurred within hours after first-time exposure to synthetic cannabis. Synthetic cannabis use is an important consideration in the investigation of stroke in young adults.

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      Article info

      Publication history

      Published online: October 10, 2013
      Accepted: July 22, 2013
      Received: June 13, 2013

      Footnotes

      Drs. Bernson-Leung and Leung are joint first authors.

      Author contributions: Miya E. Bernson-Leung, Lester Y. Leung, and Sandeep Kumar contributed to analysis, interpretation of data, and drafting the manuscript. All authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript.

      Disclosures: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose and no financial interests relevant to the subject of this manuscript. There were no sources of grant support.

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2013.07.030

      Copyright

      © 2014 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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