title: Siriraj Acute Stroke Unit: 10 years experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stroke is the second most common cause of death and leading cause of adult disability worldwide. The recent publication guidelines suggest that there are treatment strategies for optimizing the management of acute stroke patients including thrombolytic therapy, antiplatelet drugs and the establishment of a stroke unit. In Thailand, the first stroke unit has been established since May 1997 and was named Siriraj Acute Stroke Unit (SASU).
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors retrospectively analyzed the data of stroke patients who were admitted in the SASU from May 1997 to May 2007, as well as hyper acute stroke (within 3 hours after onset). The statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS 11.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 2,109 patients admitted to the SASU during 10 year-period. The mean age of all patients was 65.35 years (range 14-94 years, median 69.2 years). Stroke subtypes were classified as infarction (including transient ischemic attack) in 1799 patients (86.7%) and hemorrhage in 310 patients (13.26%). The most common stroke mechanism was small vessel disease (38.97%). The mainly ischemic stroke distribution was middle cerebral artery territory (77.14%). Risk factors of stroke were as follow: hypertension (61.79%), diabetes mellitus (35.47%), hyperlipidaemia (46.58%), smoking (21.02%) and prior stroke or coronary heart disease (23.74%). Mortality rate was 3.4% mainly due septicemia (26 patients). The mean total hospital stay of stroke patients at the SASU was 13.81 days (ranging from 1-120 days). There were thirty hyper-acute ischemic stroke patients who received intravenous thrombolytic therapy (between August 2005 and May 2007) for which the mean age was 70.7 years (ranges 48-88 years, median 74.5 years). Mean initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was 14.27. Intracranial hemorrhage after intravenous thrombolytic therapy was found in 8 patients which include 3 patients with symptomatic hemorrhage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The standard of care in SASU is not inferior to other stroke unit worldwide. Admission of acute stroke patient to the SASU provides a better chance of survival as well as a shorter length of hospital stay.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Songchai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chinwatanakul
authors.forename: Kanokwan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boonyapisit
authors.forename: Darakul
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pornsriniyom
authors.forename: Naraporn
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Proyoonwiwat
authors.forename: Vorapan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Senanarong
authors.forename: Rungsan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chaisevikul
authors.forename: Chotipat
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Danchaivijitr
authors.forename: Watanachai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chotinaiwatarakul
authors.forename: Sith
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sathornsumetee
authors.forename: Niphon
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Poungvarin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020521:Stroke / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy; D055815:Young Adult