title: [Patients with acute cerebral infarction admitted to stroke unit].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Treatment of acute cerebral infarction has greatly improved over the last 15 years. The purpose of this article is to describe patients with acute cerebral infarction admitted to a stroke unit from a geographically well defined population between 2007 and 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients were included aged over 15 years with acute cerebral infarction living in a well defined geographical area and admitted to Haukeland University Hospital between August 2007 and October 2009. Risk factors, neurological status, treatment, complications, results of evaluation, and outcome were registered in a stroke database (Bergen Stroke Registry). Data on mortality as of November 2009 were provided by the official population registry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 553 patients with acute cerebral infarction were included: 260 (47%) females and 293 (53%) men. The mean age was 74.2 years. The incidence of patients admitted with acute cerebral infarction was 105 per 100,000 citizens per year. Thrombolysis was administered to 15%. Duplex sonography of neck vessels disclosed plaques in 68%. Atrial fibrillation was known before admission in 20%. Evaluation disclosed atrial fibrillation in another 12%. Recurrence of cerebral infarction occurred in 1% during the hospital stay. Estimated survival after one year was 82%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence of acute cerebral infarction in Bergen is low. Systematic evaluation discloses risk factors with therapeutic consequences in many patients.
authors.affiliation: Nevrologisk avdeling, Haukeland universitetssykehus, 5021 Bergen, Norway. haln@haukeland.no
authors.forename: Halvor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Næss
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Waje-Andreassen
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brøgger
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thomassen
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010343:Patient Admission; D012008:Recurrence; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D015996:Survival Rate; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy