ORIGINAL ARTICLE - VASCULAR NEUROSURGERY - ANEURYSM Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage incidence among hospitalised patients in Edirne, Turkey Osman Simsek 1 & Ahmet Tolgay Akinci 1 & Emre Delen 1 & Necdet Süt 2 Received: 12 February 2019 /Accepted: 9 August 2019 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Background To the best of our knowledge, no data has been published about the spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage (sSAH) incidence in Turkey. We aimed to report the estimation of sSAH incidence in Edirne Province, in Turkey for the first time, using the data acquired from a single medical centre which has the biggest and the most comprehensive emergency department in Edirne and to where a great majority of patients are referred. Methods We investigated all the accessible sSAH patients’ data obtained from computer-based automation systems and all the written documents in the neurosurgery and the emergency departments. Patients included in the study were diagnosed with sSAH between the dates of January 2007 and December 2011 and were resident in Edirne. We used this data to calculate the crude and age-adjusted incidence rates of sSAH for every decade. Results One hundred fifty-four patients have been diagnosed with sSAH during a 5-year period. Among them, 72 were men (47.8%) and 82 (53.2%) were women. The mean age of the patients was 60.8 years and age range was 23–85 years. The overall annual adjusted incidence rate for sSAH was 10.3 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval = 10.2–10.3). Annual adjusted incidence rate was 10 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval = 10–10.1) for men. For women, it was 10.4 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval = 10.4–10.5). For both sexes, after the 6th decade, the annual incidence rate of sSAH was higher than 10 per 100,000, reaching over 20 per 100,000 person-years after the 7th decade. The overall crude incidence rate for sSAH was 10.3 per 100,000 person-years. For men, the crude incidence rate was 9.4 per 100,000 person-years and for women, it was 11.2 per 100,000 person-years. Conclusions This study showing the first sSAH incidence estimation in Edirne might also be accepted as an estimation of overall epidemiological sSAH aspect in Turkey. Future investigations should be realised in different parts of Turkey to enlighten the epidemiological state of affairs and the course of sSAH in Turkey. Keywords Incidence . Intracranial aneurysm . Subarachnoid haemorrhage . Turkey Abbreviations 112 EHSS 112 Emergency Health Services System GCS Glasgow Coma Scale GOS Glasgow Outcome Scale SAH Subarachnoid haemorrhage SII Social Insurance Institution sSAH Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage SSI Social Security Institution TUIK Turkish Statistical Institute WFNS World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Introduction Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage (sSAH) is one of the most critical diseases for neurosurgical clinics due to its high rate of mortality and morbidity. Cerebral aneurysms which cause approximately 5% of all cerebrovascular strokes are The preliminary results of this manuscript have been presented as an oral presentation in the 15th World Congress of Neurosurgery on 8–13 September 2013 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. This article is part of the Topical Collection on Vascular Neurosurgery – Aneurysm * Ahmet Tolgay Akinci ahmettolgayakinci@gmail.com 1 Department of Neurosurgery, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey 2 Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey Acta Neurochirurgica https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-019-04036-7