title: The Impact of Risk Burden Differences between Men and Women on the Clinical Course of Ischemic Stroke.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our objective is to assess the impact of varying risk profiles in men and women on the clinical picture of ischemic stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 185 patients, 100 women and 85 men. We assessed the patients' neurological status upon admission, 1 and 2 weeks following stroke onset, using the Scandinavian Stroke Scale and the Barthel Index; stroke syndromes according to the Oxfordshire Classification; their etiology and pathogenesis according to the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment; and the prevalence of vascular risk factors. We used cranial magnetic resonance imaging to locate infarcts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women had more total anterior circulation infarct subtype strokes, whereas men had more posterior circulation infarct and lacunar infarct. On neuroimaging, women had more infarcts in the middle cerebral artery circulation, whereas men had more in the brain stem and/or cerebellum. Women had a higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) and coronary artery disease, whereas men were more likely to smoke and abuse alcohol. Women had more cases of cardioembolism, whereas men had more strokes caused by atherosclerosis of large vessels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the present study, heart diseases, such as coronary artery disease and AF, were more prevalent among women. It seems that AF is a risk factor with significant impact on the epidemiological differences regarding ischemic stroke in men and women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Miedzyleski Szpital Specjalistyczny, Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: strozynska@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stróżyńska
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Epileptology, Medical Centre of Postgraduate Training, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Fiszer
authors.affiliation: First Department of Neurology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ryglewicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Miedzyleski Szpital Specjalistyczny, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zaborski
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D020521:Stroke / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Ischemic stroke; etiology; risk factors; sex