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(Stroke. 2007;38:e95.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Response to Letter by Janszky et al

Director, Stroke Research Program, St. Michael’s Hospital and SE Toronto Regional Stroke Center, Assistant Professor in Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Response:

We would like to thank Dr Janszky and colleagues for their interest in our article and data provided.¹ They analyzed the weekend effect in the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register (unpublished data).² Dr Janszky and colleagues found higher adjusted mortality and lesser discharge home for patients admitted on weekends with ischemic cerebral infarction, and also for patients with hemorrhagic stroke.

These results confirm the importance of our observation in a different region, setting and healthcare system emphasizing the variability in stroke disability and mortality for weekend admissions. Further studies are necessary to better understand the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon and the impact of other health system variables on stroke outcome.^3–5

Acknowledgments

Disclosures

None.

References

1. Saposnik G, Baibergenova A, Bayer N, Hachinski V. Weekends: a dangerous time for having a stroke? Stroke. 2007; 38: 1211–1215.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

2. Schaufelberger M, Swedberg K, Koster M, Rosen M, Rosengren A. Decreasing one-year mortality and hospitalization rates for heart failure in Sweden: data from the Swedish Hospital Discharge Registry 1988 to 2000. Eur Heart J. 2004; 25: 300–307.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

3. Saposnik G, Baibergenova A, O’Donnell M, Hill M, Kapral M, Hachinski V. Hospital volume and stroke mortality: does it matter? Neurology. 2007; 69: 1–11.

4. Goldstein LB, Matchar DB, Hoff-Lindquist J, Samsa GP, Horner RD. VA stroke study: neurologist care is associated with increased testing but improved outcomes. Neurology. 2003; 61: 792–796.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

5. Kapral MK, Wang H, Mamdani M, Tu JV. Effect of socioeconomic status on treatment and mortality after stroke. Stroke. 2002; 33: 268–273.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 38/9/e95    most recent STROKEAHA.107.492546v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Saposnik, G. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Saposnik, G.