title: Stroke recurrence within 2 years after ischemic infarction.
abstract: We prospectively studied stroke recurrence in 1,273 patients with ischemic stroke who were entered into the Stroke Data Bank. Median follow-up was 13 months. The 2-year cumulative recurrence rate among these patients was 14.1%. Age, sex, race, history of hypertension, atrial fibrillation, or transient ischemic attacks, and stroke location were not associated with a higher risk of stroke recurrence. Patients with an elevated blood pressure, an abnormal initial computed tomogram, or a history of diabetes mellitus were at a higher risk of stroke recurrence. In contrast, patients with an infarct of unknown cause were at a lower risk of stroke recurrence than patients with a defined stroke mechanism, such as lacune, embolism, or atherosclerosis. A multivariate model suggests that patients at the lowest risk for stroke recurrence have a low diastolic blood pressure, no history of stroke, no history of diabetes mellitus, and an infarct of unknown cause.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, Chicago.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Hier
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Foulkes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Swiontoniowski
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Sacco
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Gorelick
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Mohr
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000150:complications*; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors