title: Hemiplegics after a first stroke: late survival and risk factors.
abstract: Scanning 3000 cases admitted for rehabilitation after cerebrovascular accident over a 20 year period produced a sample of 1369 subjects, without age restrictions, admitted within six months of a first stroke of thrombotic etiology. In this sample, survival rates showed no significant difference between men and women. Age at onset, however, clearly influenced survival changes; the expected mean survival was 6 years at 40 and 2 at age 80; average loss of life was 14 years for the whole sample, meaning a vital prognosis two to three times worse than that of the general population. At least 86% of the sample presented one or more of five etiological antecedents to stroke: hypertensive heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation. In 87% of those, HHD and/or PVD were present. Presence of hypertension significantly lowered life expectancy and so did PVD; their influence is felt from the earliest stages. In contrast, diabetes mellitus, the next most common factor, has a late influence, starting about the fifth year after stroke. MI and AF were present in relatively fewer patients, but they contributed towards a considerable decrease in life expectancy, evident from the first stages, the more drastic reduction being observed in the AF group.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D002542:Intracranial Embolism and Thrombosis / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk