Incidence of Oral Anticoagulant–Associated Intracerebral Hemorrhage in the Netherlands

Abstract

Background and Purpose— The aim of this study was to estimate the annual adult incidence and risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and oral anticoagulant–associated ICH (OAC-ICH) in the Netherlands. Methods— We retrospectively selected all consecutive adult patients with a nontraumatic ICH seen in 1 of 3 hospitals in the region South-Limburg, the Netherlands, from 2007 to 2009. Crude incidences were age-adjusted to Dutch and European population. Results— We identified 652 ICH cases, of which 168 (25.8%) were OAC associated. The adult Dutch age-adjusted annual incidence of ICH and OAC-ICH was 34.8 (95% confidence interval, 32.0–37.8) and 8.7 (95% confidence interval, 7.3–10.3) per 100 000 person-years, respectively. The absolute risk of OAC-ICH was estimated at 0.46% per patient-year of OAC treatment. Conclusions— The annual incidences of ICH and OAC-ICH are relatively high in the Netherlands when compared with international literature.