ABSTRACT
Background: Stroke is the second cause of mortality and the first cause of morbidity in Chile and worldwide. Nowadays there is a major interest in introducing new therapies applying evidence based medicine for these patients. Aim: To describe the clinical profile of patients attended after a stroke, to determine stroke subtypes and their risk factors. Material and methods: Retrospective review of clinical records of 459 patients (mean age 65±48 years, 238 female) that were admitted to our unit during a period of 37 months. Results: Sixty three percent of patients had an ischemic stroke, 14% had an hemorrhagic stroke, 15% had a transient ischemic attack, 2% had a cerebral venous thrombosis and 6% a subarachnoidal hemorrhage. The global mortality was 1%. Seventy percent of patients had a history of high blood pressure. Conclusions: The most common type of stroke is ischemic and high blood pressure is the main risk factor.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Stroke/epidemiology , Hospital Units/statistics & numerical data , Age Distribution , Stroke/classification , Stroke/etiology , Chi-Square Distribution , Chile/epidemiology , Diabetes Complications , Hypertension/complications , Retrospective Studies , Risk Factors , Sex DistributionABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Stroke is the second cause of mortality and the first cause of morbidity in Chile and worldwide. Nowadays there is a major interest in introducing new therapies applying evidence based medicine for these patients. AIM: To describe the clinical profile of patients attended after a stroke, to determine stroke subtypes and their risk factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective review of clinical records of 459 patients (mean age 65+/-48 years, 238 female) that were admitted to our unit during a period of 37 months. RESULTS: Sixty three percent of patients had an ischemic stroke, 14% had an hemorrhagic stroke, 15% had a transient ischemic attack, 2% had a cerebral venous thrombosis and 6% a subarachnoidal hemorrhage. The global mortality was 1%. Seventy percent of patients had a history of high blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: The most common type of stroke is ischemic and high blood pressure is the main risk factor.