Purpose: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and incidence of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and stroke in Korean male adolescents.
Materials and methods: The authors reviewed all medical certificates, medical records, and radiologic images from the examinations of Korean military conscription from January 2008 to May 2011.
Results: Of the 101,156 examinees, 40 had CVD and stroke during adolescence. The overall prevalence and incidence of CVD and stroke was 39.54 cases per 100,000 adolescents and 2.08 cases per 100,000 adolescents per year, respectively and these were similar to the worldwide data. There were 3 cases of aneurysm, 3 cases of dural arteriovenous fistula, 11 cases of arteriovenous malformation, 4 cases of cavernous hemangioma, 4 cases of cerebrovascular infarction, 16 cases of Moyamoya disease, and 1 case of missing data. The incidence of arteriovenous malformation (0.57 cases per 100,000 adolescents per year) was lower than the incidence for the worldwide general population. The incidence of Moyamoya disease was higher than that in any other country (15.82 cases per 100,000 adolescents, vs. 0.83 cases per 100,000 adolescents per year).
Conclusion: We observed ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, each accounting for approximately half of cases, and high incidence of Moyamoya disease with low incidence of arteriovenous malformation in Korean male adolescents.