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David Gaist a Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health,
Universtity of Southern Denmark, Odense University, DK 5000 Odense C,
Denmark, b Department of Biostatistics, University of
Aarhus, DK 8000 Aarhus, Denmark, c Department of Neurology, Odense University
Hospital, Odense, Denmark, d Danish Epidemiology Science
Centre, University of Aarhus, e Department of Clinical Epidemiology of Aarhus and Aalborg
University Hospitals at the Institute of Epidemiology and Social
Medicine, University of Aarhus
Correspondence to: D Gaist d-gaist{at}win-chs.ou.dk
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Abstract |
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Objective:
To estimate the risk of occurrence of
subarachnoid haemorrhage in first degree relatives (parents, siblings,
children) of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Subarachnoid haemorrhage, in 80%-90% of cases due to rupture of
an intracranial aneurysm, occurs at all ages but strikes primarily in
middle age, often with devastating consequences: about 40% of patients
admitted to hospital die within 1 month and more than one third of
survivors have severe disability.1 Several studies have
indicated that smoking, hypertension, and alcohol misuse are important
risk factors for subarachnoid haemorrhage due to aneurysms.2 Genetic factors may also have a role as close
relatives harbour intracerebral aneurysms more frequently than the
background population.3 Furthermore, intracerebral
aneurysms are associated with several rare hereditary disorders Four recent studies indicate that first degree relatives (parents, full
siblings, children) are at increased risk of subarachnoid haemorrhage.5-8 In all but one of the existing studies,
information on pedigrees and identification of cases among relatives
were based on self reported or proxy reported data, which can be
subject to selection and recall biases making quantitative estimates
inaccurate. We believe that creation of pedigree and case
identification by means of population based registries provide less
opportunity for selection and avoid recall bias. We therefore used
nationwide registries to estimate the incidence rate of subarachnoid
haemorrhage in first degree relatives of patients with the disorder and
to compare it with the rate in the Danish population.
Nationwide registries
Design:
Population based cohort study using data from the Danish National Discharge Registry and the Central Person Registry.
Subjects:
Incident cases of subarachnoid haemorrhage admitted to hospital from 1977 to 1995 (9367 patients) and their first
degree relatives (14 781).
Main outcome measures:
The incidence rate of
subarachnoid haemorrhage was determined for the relatives and compared
with that of the entire population, standardised for age, sex, and
calendar period. This process was repeated for patients discharged from
neurosurgery units, as diagnoses from these wards had high validity
(93%).
Results:
18 patients had a total of 19 first degree relatives with subarachnoid haemorrhage during the study period, corresponding to a standardised incidence ratio of 2.9 (95% confidence interval 1.9 to 4.6). Patients discharged from neurosurgery wards had a
higher standardised incidence ratio (4.5, 2.7 to 7.3).
Conclusions:
First degree relatives of patients with
subarachnoid haemorrhage have a threefold to fivefold increased risk of
subarachnoid haemorrhage compared with the general population.
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Introduction
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
for
example, polycystic kidney disease and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type
IV.4
![]()
Methods
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
We performed a follow up study based on information from two
nationwide registries: the Danish National Discharge Registry and the
Danish Central Person Registry. We identified patients with
subarachnoid haemorrhage in the discharge registry and identified their
first degree relatives in the central registry. Information on
essentially all (99.4%) discharges from Danish hospitals has been
recorded in the discharge registry since 1977.9 Recorded
data include the dates of admission and discharge, up to 20 discharge
diagnoses, hospital and department codes, and the surgical procedures
performed. Discharge diagnoses were classified according to the Danish
version of the ICD-8 (international classification of diseases, 8th
revision) for 1977 to 1993 and the ICD-10 (10th revision) for 1994-5. A
10 digit civil registration number, which is permanent and unique to
each Danish citizen, is also recorded, enabling the compilation of
patient specific discharge histories. Data were retrieved on all
persons listed with a diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage (ICD-8
codes 430; ICD-10 codes I60) in the discharge registry from 1 January
1977 to 31 December 1995. We identified index episodes, defined as the
first registered admission to hospital with a diagnosis of subarachnoid
haemorrhage within the study period. Coding of the index episode as a
recurrent or previous episode of subarachnoid haemorrhage led to
exclusion. We also excluded patients with concurrent codes for cerebral
arteriovenous malformations (ICD-8 codes 430.01 and 430.91; ICD-10
codes Q28.2 and Q28.3). In Denmark, suspicion of subarachnoid
haemorrhage usually leads to rapid transfer of patients to neurosurgery
or neurology departments for more advanced diagnostic investigation and
treatment. We therefore classified patients according to the most
specialised department they had been admitted to or transferred to
within 21 days of their first admission with diagnosed subarachnoid haemorrhage: neurosurgery (most specialised), neurology, or "other department" (least specialised) according to the register data.
Validity of the diagnosis
We studied the validity of a register diagnosis of subarachnoid
haemorrhage in a sample from hospitals in Funen County (465 000
inhabitants; 9% of the Danish population). Only hospitals with more
than 10 registered patients in the study period were used
that is, a
university hospital with a neurosurgery and a neurology department, and
two other hospitals. Discharge records on 210 patients were retrieved
for review. Data from discharge abstracts, medical records, or autopsy
reports were abstracted to a structured form and evaluated, blinded
with respect to family relationship, by an experienced neurologist (IT)
according to predefined criteria. A register diagnosis of subarachnoid
haemorrhage was accepted when a typical clinical history and at least
one of the following were described: computed tomography findings compatible with blood in the subarachnoid space, xanthochromic cerebrospinal fluid, or subarachnoid haemorrhage or aneurysm
established by angiography or autopsy. Medical records could be traced
in all but one case. All cases marked as recurrent or previous episodes of subarachnoid haemorrhage in the register (18 patients) were also
recorded as such in the medical documents. In the remaining 191 cases
the positive predictive value of a register diagnosis of subarachnoid
haemorrhage was 93% (95% confidence interval 85% to 98%) for
patients discharged from the neurosurgery department and 75% (60% to
87%) for patients discharged from the neurology department. For
patients discharged from other non-specialty wards, the predictive
value of a register diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage was low: 47%
(36% to 59%). We also validated the register diagnosis of
subarachnoid haemorrhage for patients from families with more than one
case of subarachnoid haemorrhage identified in the nationwide material
(37 patients). The predictive value of a register diagnosis of
subarachnoid haemorrhage in these cases, which were mostly admitted to
neurosurgery wards, was 92% (78% to 98%). Overall the
misclassification may thus be less than 20%.
Statistical analyses
We calculated age specific and sex specific incidence rates for
the entire Danish population for each of the periods 1977-81, 1982-6, 1987-91, and 1992-5. Twenty age categories (5 year intervals) were
used. Appropriate population denominators (person years at risk) were
derived from annual population counts (1 year age categories for each
sex) obtained from Statistics Denmark.12 To study the
incidence rate of subarachnoid haemorrhage in first degree relatives
the follow up data were aggregated in a multiway person year table. The
main table was based on sex, age (5 year intervals), and calendar
period (four periods). To study the effect of follow up time (time
since admission of index case categorised as less than 1 year, 1-7 years, and more than 7 years), type of relative (parent, sibling,
child), and the sex of the index case, three additional person year
tables were made based on each of these factors and including age, sex,
and calendar period. The table including sex of the index case was
restricted to children of the index cases.
that is, labelling registered cases (which in fact
were prevalent cases) as incident cases, we successively restricted the
study period by letting it begin in 1982, 1987, and 1992.
Misclassification of diagnoses in the discharge registry results in
inclusion of non-cases in the analyses, which leads to an underestimate
of the relative risk. Neurosurgery units had the lowest proportion of
misclassification of cases according to our validation study. We
therefore repeated all analyses after restricting the sample to
patients (including index cases and first degree relative cases)
discharged from neurosurgery units. The study was approved by all seven
regional ethics committees and the Danish registry board.
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Results |
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We identified 9367 patients admitted to hospital for the first time with subarachnoid haemorrhage during the study period. Patients were more frequently female and middle aged, and the 30 day case fatality rate was high (table 1). In all, 77% (7200 patients) of patients had been admitted, or transferred, to neurospecialty units. By comparison, cases with identified first degree relatives were younger (mean difference 4.8 years) and were more frequently admitted to departments with neurospecialty (84%; 5177 patients) (table 1). According to our data, the overall incidence of subarachnoid haemorrhage in Denmark in 1986 (the mid period of the study) was 9.25 per 100 000 person years. Age specific incidence rates were stable during most of the study period and peaked in the fifth and sixth age decade for both sexes (results not shown).
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First degree relatives could be traced for 6175 cases (66%). We identified 14 781 relatives of the index cases, mostly offspring, who were followed for a total of 108 933 person years (table 2). Eighteen index cases had a total of 19 first degree relatives (10 women and nine men) who had had a subarachnoid haemorrhage during follow up, 16 of whom were admitted to neurosurgery units. The median age at admission to hospital was 33.7 years (range 19.0-61.2 years). Nine of the 19 subjects (47%) died within 30 days of admission to hospital.
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First degree relatives of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage had a threefold risk of developing this condition compared with the general population. Restricting the analysis to cases admitted to neurosurgery wards increased the standardised incidence ratio to 4.5 (2.7 to 7.3). Left truncating the time window of case ascertainment and follow up had very little effect on these results (table 3). In the analysis both of all cases and of cases admitted to neurosurgery units, the excess risk did not depend on sex (P>0.5 in both analyses), age (test for trend, P>0.5 and P=0.2 respectively), or calendar period (P=0.2 in both analyses).
A tendency for the standardised incidence ratio to decrease with
increasing follow up time was not statistically significant (all cases:
11% per year of follow up, P=0.1; neurosurgery cases: 8% per year of
follow up, P=0.2). The standardised incidence ratio showed some
variation between types of relative (highest among children), but the
tendency was not statistically significant (all cases: P>0.5;
neurosurgery cases: P=0.4) (table 2). Finally, the sex of the index
case did not have any significant impact on the excess risk of the
children (all cases: P=0.5; neurosurgery cases: P=0.4).
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Discussion |
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We found that first degree relatives of patients who had a
subarachnoid haemorrhage were at a threefold to fivefold increased risk
of subarachnoid haemorrhage compared with the background population.
The main strengths of the present study are its large size, and the
setting
a nationwide uniformly organised health system with free
access to medical care. Furthermore, our study was not vulnerable to
the potential bias in studies using self reported or proxy reported
data
that is, that relatives of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage
participate and report differently, depending on the number of cases in
the family.
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Our results are, however, in line with previous studies using different designs and populations.5-8 In a case-control study of 149 patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage, cases were 1.8 times more likely than controls to report having first degree relatives with subarachnoid haemorrhage.5 Bromberg et al interviewed relatives of 163 cases of subarachnoid haemorrhage that were admitted to hospital.6 Ten cases of subarachnoid haemorrhage in first degree and four in second degree relatives could be verified by review of medical records, corresponding to a relative risk of 6.6.6 In another study, 11 first degree relatives of 76 patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage had had an aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage, which corresponded to a relative risk of 4.1 compared with the background population.7 De Braekeleer et al traced all 533 cases of subarachnoid haemorrhage and unruptured intracranial aneurysms through hospital registries, and matched controls were identified through a population register in an isolated population with a high degree of inbreeding.8 Cases were 4.7 times more likely to have affected first degree relatives than were controls. However, the interpretation of the findings of this study is hampered by the inclusion of patients with unruptured aneurysms in the case group.
Familial cases of intracranial aneurysm have been reported to occur, with a slight preponderance in women, at a younger age, and with similar severity and case fatality as non-familial cases.14-19 Our estimate of the relative risk of subarachnoid haemorrhage in first degree relatives of patients with the disorder was not influenced by sex, age, calendar period, follow up, or the sex of the index case. However, this could be owing to the small number of familial cases of subarachnoid haemorrhage in our study.
The low incidence rate and high 30 day case fatality rate of subarachnoid haemorrhage in Denmark are comparable to results reported in recent studies.20-22 In contrast to previous studies reporting a decrease in subarachnoid haemorrhage incidence over time,20-23 we found that the incidence rate was stable for most of the study period.
Potential limitations of the study
Our study has several potential weaknesses. Prevalent cases,
surviving a first admission to hospital for subarachnoid haemorrhage
before 1977, could be misclassified as incident cases if admitted for a
recurrent episode of subarachnoid haemorrhage during the study period.
We addressed this problem by excluding patients with a register code at
the index admission to hospital, indicating a recurrent episode. The
high case fatality rate and the robustness of our results to
progressively left truncating the time window indicate that the extent
of the problem is minor.
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What is known on this topic
Several observational studies have indicated that first degree relatives of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage are at increased risk of having this disorder. However, the validity of the risk estimates could be questioned owing to potential problems of selection and recall bias What this paper addsThis follow up study overcame some of these problems by using national registries in Denmark to create pedigrees and to identify incident cases of subarachnoid haemorrhage The study confirmed that first degree relatives of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage are at a threefold to fivefold increased risk of experiencing a subarachnoid haemorrhage compared with the general population, but the incidence rate of subarachnoid haemorrhage is low |
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Conclusion |
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Our study, which reduced selection bias and was not prone to
recall bias, leads us to conclude that first degree relatives of
patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage are at a threefold to fivefold
increased risk of having a subarachnoid haemorrhage.
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Acknowledgments |
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Contributors: DG, KC, and HTS initiated the study. DG was principal investigator and study coordinator, contributed to the design of the study, the collection and the analysis of the data, and wrote the initial draft; he will act as guarantor for the paper. MV contributed to the design of the study and did the statistical analyses. IT contributed to the design of the validation part of the study, which he also conducted. KC, EC, JO, and HTS participated in the design and discussed core ideas. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the data and the writing of the paper.
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Footnotes |
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Funding: This study was funded by a grant from Sygekassernes Helsefond (No 11/222-96). The activities of the Danish Epidemiology Science Centre are financed by a grant from the National Danish Research Foundation.
Competing interests: None declared.
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(Accepted 5 November 1999)
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