[Case fatality after acute stroke at the Reykjavik Hospital in 1996-1997.].
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to describe case-fatality after acute stroke at the Reykjavik Hospital. A study describing the outcome of stroke patients in an Icelandic population has not been published before.


METHODS
A prospective hospital-based stroke registry has been conducted at the Reykjavik Hospital since January 1996. Patients with ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage were included in this study but patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA), subarachnoid hemorrhage and hemorrhage due to hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy were excluded. We describe the severity of symptoms at stroke onset, length of hospital stay and outcome.


RESULTS
In 1996 and 1997 a total of 377 events were registered. Ischemic stroke was diagnosed in 88% and hemorrhagic stroke in 12%. The case-fatality was 17%, 71% of the patients were discharged home and 12% to nursing care. The average length of hospital stay was 28.7 days (95% CI 24.1-33.3) and 63% of patients were treated at the stroke unit. Eighty-five percent of patients could have been treated at the stroke unit but 15% needed intensive care unit (ICU) or other intensive medical care.


CONCLUSIONS
Case-fatality was lower and the pro-portion of patients discharged home was higher than we have seen reported in foreign studies. Stroke may be a less severe disease in Iceland than in other Western countries.
Eliasson
J H
JH
Valdimarsson
E M
EM
Jakobsson
F
F