title: Antithrombotic Drugs Play a Significant Role in Intracerebral Hemorrhage in the Elderly Patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Japan has the fastest aging society in the world. Compared with younger patients, older ones have a different stroke risk profile and different stroke features. The aim of this study was to examine the risk factor profiles, stroke severities, and functional outcomes of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in different age groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 14,599 patients with hypertensive ICH were included in a multicenter, hospital-based registration study using a computerized database involving 95 Japanese institutes from 2000 to 2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequencies of atrial fibrillation, previous stroke, and coronary artery disease peaked in patients in their 80s and decreased thereafter. The frequency of the use of antithrombotic agents increased with age and reached its peak (26.7%) in patients in their 80s and sustained 18.6% in patients aged 90 years or older. More severe symptoms on admission and worse functional outcomes were observed with an increase in age, which might be related with the increased rate of antithrombotic therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rate of use of antithrombotic agents increases with age. The role of these agents in ICH becomes larger in aged people, which may be one of the causes of poorer outcome in aged patients with ICH. Given that the population is rapidly aging, the use of antithrombotic agents should be considered an emerging risk factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Cerebrovascular Medicine, Saitama International Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan. Electronic address: yujik@saitama-med.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Cerebrovascular Medicine, Saitama International Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Cerebrovascular Medicine, Saitama International Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagamine
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Cerebrovascular Medicine, Saitama International Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanahashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Shimane University, Shimane, Japan.
authors.forename: Shotai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents
keywords: Age stratification; Japanese; epidemiology; intracerebral hemorrhage