Incidence of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in Shimokita, Japan, from 1989 to 1998.
OBJECTIVE
The incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has been investigated in many studies. A recent study in Izumo, Japan, indicates that the incidence of SAH is as high as that in Finland. The purpose of this study was to confirm the high incidence of SAH in Japan.


METHODS
The incidence rate of SAH was investigated from 1989 through 1998 in the Shimokita peninsula, which is a clearly defined closed-boundary area in northern Japan with a population of 89 991. The registration was based on the complete referral system of SAH patients. All cases suspected of SAH underwent CT scan, and the images were referred to stroke specialists. The moribund cases and dead-on-arrival cases suspected of SAH also underwent CT scan.


RESULTS
From 1989 through 1998, 198 cases were diagnosed as having aneurysmal SAH. Out of these, 26 cases were moribund or dead when the initial CT scan was performed. The age-adjusted annual incidence of SAH was 21 per 100 000 person-years. The age and sex distribution of the cases indicated that the incidence plateaued after age 45 in men and the incidence increased after age 45 and reached the peak after 75 years in women.


CONCLUSIONS
The high incidence of SAH in Japan is confirmed. The incidence of SAH obtained in this study is near to that of the Izumo study, of which the size of the geographic region and denominator and diagnostic criteria were similar to this study.
Ohkuma
Hiroki
H
Department of Neurosurgery, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, Hirosaki, Japan. ohkuma@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp
Fujita
Seiichiroh
S
Suzuki
Shigeharu
S
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed