• Quang Tuan Rémy Nguyen, Alban Gravier, Constance Lesoil, Alexandre Bedet, Camille Petit-Hoang, Matthieu Mahevas, Armand Mekontso-Dessap, Jérôme Hodel, Anne-Catherine Bachoud-Lévi, and Laurent Cleret de Langavant.
• Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, CHU Henri Mondor, service de Neurologie, Créteil, France; INSERM U955 Equipe E01, Institut Mondor de recherche biomédicale, Neuropsychologie Interventionnelle, Créteil, France; Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, Paris, France; Université Paris Est, Faculté de Médecine, Créteil, France.
• Am. J. Med. 2020 Jul 1; 133 (7): e360-e364.

BackgroundCannabis use is increasing worldwide despite the various health effects of this substance.MethodsWe report 2 cases of acute hippocampal encephalopathy in heavy cannabis users (>10 joints/d).ResultsIn both male patients, acute encephalitis was suspected. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diffusion-weighted sequences showed bilateral high signal abnormalities in hippocampal regions. Patients had renal dysfunction, rhabdomyolysis, and inflammatory syndrome. Investigations showed no evidence of infectious or autoimmune encephalitides. Repeated electroencephalograms revealed no epileptic activity. Clinical, biological, and magnetic resonance imaging acute abnormalities improved within weeks. New exposure to cannabis yielded a new episode of encephalopathy. In both patients, severe long-lasting episodic memory impairment associated with hippocampal atrophy were observed several months later.ConclusionsHealth professionals should be aware of this cannabis-related syndrome given its severe and long-lasting effects.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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