This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 34/10/2347    most recent 01.STR.0000094660.31493.78v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Nolfe, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Nolfe, G.

(Stroke. 2003;34:2347.)
© 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.

Original Contributions

Editorial Comment—Trends in Stroke Mortality

Institute of Cybernetics "E. Caianiello", National Research Council of Italy-CNR, Pozzuoli, Italy

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Stroke is a serious public health problem leading to long-term disabilities, recurrence, and death. Therefore, the prognosis of outcome is investigated in several epidemiological studies in recent years. Stroke mortality varies from country to country; an increase in mortality was observed in Eastern European countries, except in Poland, whereas mortality declined in other European population.¹ Biological, clinical, environmental, and social factors may interact to facilitate or interfere with recovery from stroke.² Barker and Lackland³ have demonstrated that within Britain and the United States there are geographic variations in poststroke mortality that are not correlated with differences in adult lifestyle. In particular, these authors found a higher stroke mortality in areas of England and Wales characterized in the past by poor living standards. Hardie and coworkers,⁴ in a population-based study in Australia, have found that the direct effects of initial stroke and cardiovascular diseases are the major causes of death after first-ever stroke.

The present study examines the 10-year prognosis, causes, and risk factors of death after first stroke in a Japanese cohort. A total of 1261 subjects, aged >40 years and living in Hisayama on Kyushu Island in southern Japan, were enrolled and followed from 1961 to 1987. When neurological symptoms were suspected, the patient underwent clinical and diagnostic examinations including lumbar puncture, cerebral angiography, and brain imaging. The 82.6% of patients who died underwent autopsy. To elucidate the risk factors for death, the authors have collected several clinical data: alcohol consumption, smoking habits, glucose intolerance, serum total cholesterol, body . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. G. Stead, R. M. Gilmore, W. W. Decker, A. L. Weaver, and R. D. Brown Jr Initial emergency department blood pressure as predictor of survival after acute ischemic stroke Neurology, October 25, 2005; 65(8): 1179 - 1183. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]