AAN: Antidepressants Not Tied to Increased Intracerebral Hemorrhage Risk

WEDNESDAY, March 3, 2021 -- Antidepressant use is not associated with an increased rate of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), according to a study scheduled for presentation at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, to be held virtually from April 17 to 22.

Mithilesh Siddu, M.D., from the University of Miami, and colleagues used the Florida Stroke Registry to identify 127,915 ICH cases with antidepressant use data available.

The researchers found that the rate of ICH among prior antidepressant users (17,009 patients; median age, 74 years) was 11 percent compared with 14 percent in antidepressant nonusers (110,906 patients; median age, 72 years). When adjusting for age, race, prior history of hypertension, diabetes, and oral anticoagulant, antiplatelet, and statin use, antidepressant users were just as likely to present with spontaneous ICH as nonusers (odds ratio, 0.92; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.85 to 1.01). A total of 3.4 percent of all ICH patients and 9 percent of those in whom antidepressant information was available were discharged home on an antidepressant (74 percent selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and 24 percent other antidepressant).

"These findings are important, especially since depression is common after stroke and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are some of the first drugs considered for people," Siddu said in a statement. "More research is needed to confirm our findings and to also examine if selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors prescribed after a stroke may be linked to risk of a second stroke."

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Posted: March 2021