title: Causes of death among persons who survive an acute ischemic stroke.
abstract: Stroke and especially its complications are a leading cause of death. Despite reduced morbidity in some developed countries, mortality in stroke patients is still high worldwide. In the past decades, treatment of acute stroke has focused on early intervention, such as revascularization and cerebral edema prevention. However, long-term clinical observations indicate that poststroke pneumonia, cardiovascular complications, and vascular embolism are the major reasons for the increased death rate after stroke. Few evidence-based data are available currently to guide the management of these complications. Thus, systematic studies of these adverse events are essential and urgent to improve survival after stroke.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Materia Medica, and Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wen-Bin
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Nai-Hong
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D002423:Cause of Death; D004617:Embolism / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*