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Different routes of heroin intake cause various heroin-induced leukoencephalopathies

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Abstract

Objective

Toxic leukoencephalopathy is a rare but critical neurological disorder in heroin abusers. Our aim is to compare the clinical manifestations, brain MRIs and prognoses of heroin-induced leukoencephalopathy by different intake routes.

Methods

We present two patients with toxic leukoencephalopathy caused by intravenous (IV) injection of heroin and 48 additional cases from systematic reviews of the literature published between 1994 and 2018.

Results

Among the 50 heroin abusers who developed leukoencephalopathy, inhalation was the most popular route (60%), followed by IV injection (30%) and snorting (10%). Mental changes, mutism and urine/fecal incontinence were the major symptoms in patients who IV injected heroin, while cerebellar ataxia and dysarthria were more common among those who inhaled heroin. Delayed-onset encephalopathy uniquely occurred in those who IV injected heroin, whereas progressive encephalopathy was more commonly observed in those who inhaled heroin. Clinical improvement was observed in 60% of patients, the overall mortality rate was 12%, and higher mortality was observed in patients who used the inhalation route (16.7%). The hallmarks on the MRIs of those who inhaled heroin were posterior to anterior involvement of the cerebral white matter and lesions in the posterior limbs of the internal capsules, cerebellum and brainstem. In contrast, those who IV injected heroin had more frequent lesions in the subcortical U fibers and the genu of the internal capsules.

Conclusion

These data could help physicians make an early diagnosis and predict prognosis and suggest that prompt antioxidative or symptomatic treatments might reduce the long-term consequences and mortality of heroin-induced leukoencephalopathy.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant to MYC from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and National Tsing Hua University Joint Research Program (CGMH-NTHU-2014-No. CMRPG3D0631).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Linkou Medical Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Mei-Yun Cheng, Tony Wu, Siew-Na Lim, Hsiang-Yao Hsieh, Chun-Wei Chang, Wei-En Johnny Tseng, Han-Tao Li, Hsing-I Chiang, Bao-Luen Chang & Long-Sun Ro

  2. College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Mei-Yun Cheng, Tony Wu, Siew-Na Lim, Hsiang-Yao Hsieh, Jung-Lung Hsu, Chun-Wei Chang, Wei-En Johnny Tseng, Han-Tao Li, Hsing-I Chiang, Bao-Luen Chang & Long-Sun Ro

  3. Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Mei-Yun Cheng & Yen-Chung Chang

  4. Department of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Linkou Medical Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Shy-Chyi Chin

  5. Institute of Systems Neuroscience, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Yen-Chung Chang

  6. Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Meng-Han Tsai

  7. Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine and Research Center for Brain and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jung-Lung Hsu

Authors
  1. Mei-Yun Cheng
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  2. Shy-Chyi Chin
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  4. Tony Wu
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  14. Long-Sun Ro
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Contributions

M-YC collected the clinical data, reviewed the literature and contributed to the manuscript preparation. S-CC reviewed and analyzed the brain MRI data. TW and S-NL both reviewed the EEG data. Y-CC, H-YH, J-LH, C-WC, W-EJT, H-TL, H-IC, B-LC and M-HT collected the clinical data and reviewed the literature. L-SR contributed to the manuscript preparation and final approval of the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Long-Sun Ro.

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Conflicts of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

This study was approved by the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Institutional Review Board (No: 201800826B0) and, therefore, was performed in accordance with the ethical standards established in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments, and informed consent was unnecessary.

Informed consent

Informed consent is not mandatory for retrospective medical chart reviews. Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under study should be omitted.

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Cheng, MY., Chin, SC., Chang, YC. et al. Different routes of heroin intake cause various heroin-induced leukoencephalopathies. J Neurol 266, 316–329 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-018-9131-1

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