[Epidemiology and tendency of cerebrovascular disease in the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery Manuel Velasco Suárez during the period 1997-2003].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the frequency and behavior of cerebrovascular disease over time in the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery of Mexico City (INNN).


METHODS
We reviewed all the clinical charts of the patients with a diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) during the period of 1997 to 2003. Simple frequencies, yearly proportion of CVD cases and their tendency during the study period were obtained. The main epidemiological characteristics among the ischemic CVD and hemorrhagic CVD were compared.


RESULTS
No tendency to increase was found for this disease. In the analysis by type of CVD, a statistically significant decrease of hemorrhagic CVD was found. The age group in which this disease had the highest frequency was 40 to 59 years and there was a slight predominance of female gender; however this difference was not statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the frequency of CVD in this study did not show a tendency towards increase, the number of yearly cases in the INNN is high. We consider that even when several risk factors associated to this disease are already known, it is still a major public health problem in the world, considering the enormous consequences for health institutions, society and patients. Therefore it is necessary to continue research on risk factors associated to the development of CVD to influence on its prevention and early diagnosis and treatment.
Velásquez-Pérez
L
L
Departament of Epidemiology, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Manuel Velasco Suárez, México. leoravelasquez@hotmail.com
Juárez-Olivera
S
S
Jiménez-Marcial
Me
M
Trejo-Contreras
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies