Intracranial aneurysms formation after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: a 10-year nationwide follow-up study

BACKGROUND: Intracranial aneurysms after radiotherapy (RT) have previously been reported. However, the majority of studies were case reports. Therefore, we performed a nationwide study to explore the risk of radiation-induced intracranial aneurysms. METHODS: This study included patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer (ICD9: 140–149, 161). Intracranial aneurysms formation was identified using the following ICD9 codes: nonruptured cerebral aneurysm (ICD9:4373), aneurysm clipping (ICD9:3951). Patients who did not receive curative treatment and those with intracranial aneurysms before the diagnosis of head and neck cancer were excluded. RESULTS: In total, 70,691 patients were included in the final analysis; they were categorized into the following three groups: nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with RT, non-NPC with RT, and non-NPC without RT. Patients in the NPC with RT group had the highest risk of developing intracranial aneurysms (hazard ratio (HR) 2.57; P < 0.001). In addition, hypertension was also a risk factor of developing intracranial aneurysms (HR 2.14; P < 0.01). The mean time interval from cancer diagnosis to intracranial aneurysm formation in the NPC with RT group was 4.3 ± 3.1 years. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the non-NPC with RT and the non-NPC without RT groups, patients with NPC who received RT had a higher risk of developing intracranial aneurysms.