[Passive smoking as a cerebrovascular risk factor]. / El fumador pasivo como factor de riesgo cerebrovascular.

INTRODUCTION: Stroke is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in developed countries today. Smoking is a risk factor that is associated with arteriosclerotic disease. AIM: To evaluate the risk of having a stroke associated to both active and passive smoking in a case-control study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A case-control study was conducted which included 151 stroke patients who were admitted to hospital in the Neurology Service at the Hospital General Universitario in Alicante over a 12-month period. The control group (302) was obtained from patients who visited the emergency department at the hospital with no history of strokes and who reported clinical signs and symptoms that were not compatible with a stroke. The cases and controls were paired according to age and sex, including two controls of the same sex and whose ages were within a year of that of each case which was obtained. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 70.6 years (range: 59-81 years). Males predominated in the sample (57.6%). Stroke patients had a significantly higher percentage of hypertension, peripheral arterial disease, heart disease and dyslipidemia than the control group. The most frequently affected vascular territory was the carotid (33.8%). The most frequent presenting symptom of the stroke was motor syndrome together with language disorders (39.4%). The risk of suffering a stroke associated to active smoking was 1.40 (CI 95% = 0.91-2.15) and in the case of passive smoking it was 1.45 (CI 95% = 0.82-2.58). CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study suggest there is a relevant association between environmental exposure to tobacco smoke and increased vascular risk (which confirms other results that have been published in the literature) and stress how important it is for non-smokers to find smoke-free zones.

El fumador pasivo como factor de riesgo cerebrovascular / Passive smoking as a cerebrovascular risk factor

El ictus es actualmente una de las principales causas de morbimortalidad en los países desarrollados.El tabaco es un factor de riesgo que está relacionado con la enfermedad arterioesclerótica. Objetivo. Valorar el riesgo de presentación de ictus asociado al tabaquismo tanto activo como pasivo en un estudio de casos y controles. Pacientes y métodos.Se realizó un estudio de casos y controles en el que se incluyó a 151 pacientes con ictus que fueron ingresados en el Servicio de Neurología del Hospital General Universitario de Alicante durante un período de 12 meses. El grupo control (302 sujetos) se obtuvo de pacientes que acudieron a urgencias del hospital sin antecedentes de ictus y que referían una clínica no compatible con un ictus. Los casos y controles se aparearon por edad y sexo, incluyendo dos controles del mismo sexo y ± un año que cada caso obtenido. Resultados. La edad media de los pacientes fue de 70,6 años (rango: 59-81 años). El 57,6% correspondíaa varones. Los pacientes con ictus tenían de forma significativa un porcentaje mayor de hipertensión, arteriopatía periférica, cardiopatía y dislipemia que el grupo control. El territorio vascular más afectado fue el carotídeo (33,8%). La clínica de presentación más frecuente del ictus fue el síndrome motor junto con alteración del lenguaje, con un 39,4%. El riesgode ictus asociado al tabaquismo activo fue de 1,40 (IC 95% = 0,91-2,15) y al tabaquismo pasivo fue de 1,45 (IC 95% = 0,82-2,58). Conclusión. Los datos obtenidos en este estudio sugieren una asociación relevante entre la exposición ambiental al tabaco y un aumento del riesgo vascular, confirmando otros trabajos publicados, y recalcan la importancia de que los no fumadoresencuentren espacios libres de humo

Introduction. Stroke is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in developed countries today. Smoking is a risk factor that is associated with arteriosclerotic disease. Aim. To evaluate the risk of having a stroke associated to both active and passive smoking in a case-control study. Patients and methods. A case-control study was conducted which included151 stroke patients who were admitted to hospital in the Neurology Service at the Hospital General Universitario in Alicante over a 12-month period. The control group (302) was obtained from patients who visited the emergency department at the hospital with no history of strokes and who reported clinical signs and symptoms that were not compatible with a stroke. Thecases and controls were paired according to age and sex, including two controls of the same sex and whose ages were within a year of that of each case which was obtained. Results. The mean age of the patients was 70.6 years (range: 59-81 years).Males predominated in the sample (57.6%). Stroke patients had a significantly higher percentage of hypertension, peripheral arterial disease, heart disease and dyslipidemia than the control group. The most frequently affected vascular territory wasthe carotid (33.8%). The most frequent presenting symptom of the stroke was motor syndrome together with language disorders (39.4%). The risk of suffering a stroke associated to active smoking was 1.40 (CI 95% = 0.91-2.15) and in the case of passive smoking it was 1.45 (CI 95% = 0.82-2.58). Conclusions. The findings from this study suggest there is a relevantassociation between environmental exposure to tobacco smoke and increased vascular risk (which confirms other results that have been published in the literature) and stress how important it is for non-smokers to find smoke-free zones

Accidente Cerebrovascular