Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common risk factor for disabling ischemic stroke in the elderly, but it is not clear that its severity is generally worse than that of ischemic stroke due to other etiologies. We reviewed the clinical presentations of patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted between 1990 and 2001. The etiologies of these strokes were also classified using well-established criteria. Of 1,061 patients with acute ischemic stroke, 216 (20.3%) had AF. The frequency of bedridden state was 41.2% in patients with AF, compared to 23.7% in patients without AF (p < 0.0005). Other measures of clinical stroke severity showed similar disparities between these groups. The odds ratio for bedridden state following ischemic stroke due to AF was 2.23 (95% CI = 1.87–2.59, p < 0.0005) by multivariate logistic regression. Ischemic stroke associated with AF is typically more severe than ischemic stroke due to other etiologies, and this increased severity is independent of advanced age and other stroke risk factors.

We assessed initial clinical experience with IV tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) treatment of acute ischemic stroke in a standardized retrospective survey of hospitals with experienced acute stroke treatment systems. The incidence of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) was 6% (11 of 189 patients; 95% CI 3 to 11%), similar to that in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) t-PA Stroke Study. Deviations from the NINDS protocol guidelines were identified in 30% of patients (56 of 189). The incidence of symptomatic ICH was 11% among patients with protocol deviations as compared with 4% in patients who were treated according to the NINDS protocol guidelines, suggesting that strict adherence to protocol guidelines is prudent.

Background: Previous studies have shown that inpatient strokes are common and severe. We sought to characterize the risk factors, stroke subtypes, timing of acute stroke evaluation and frequency of thrombolytic therapy in inpatient ischemic strokes compared with community ischemic strokes. Design/Methods: The hospital records of patients admitted for acute ischemic stroke between 1996 and 2002 were reviewed. Acute stroke was defined as occurrence of stroke symptoms within 72 h, and in-hospital status was assigned if the patient was currently admitted for another illness at the time of the stroke. Patient demographics such as medical versus surgical service, admission diagnoses, clinical features including stroke risk factors, access to thrombolytic therapy and immediate outcome were analyzed. Results: Of 947 patients with acute ischemic stroke, 161 (17.0%) had strokes occurring while already in the hospital (IHIS), compared to 786 (83%) that occurred in the outpatient community (CIS). Approximately two thirds of IHIS occurred on medical services (102, 63.4%) and one third on surgical services (59, 36.7%). Mean age, male gender, atherothrombotic etiology and risk factors including hypertension, diabetes and smoking history were of similar frequencies in IHIS and CIS, but penetrating artery disease was the cause of only 5.6% of IHIS compared to 21.8% of CIS (p < 0.0001). The mean modified Rankin scale for IHIS at presentation was 4.33 ± 0.74, compared to 3.67 ± 1.03 for CIS (p < 0.0001). Of 161 IHIS patients, 21 (13.0%) had neurological assessment within 3 h of symptom onset, compared to 16.0% of CIS patients (p = 0.403, n.s.), and the rate of thrombolytic therapy was not significant between IHIS (3.7%) and CIS (5.6%) patients. Conclusions: IHIS are common and severer than CIS. The use of thrombolytic therapy in IHIS patients was limited because of time of recognition and inpatient-associated conditions. Increased vigilance for timely neurological assessment of these patients is warranted.

In the Intraoperative Hypothermia for Aneurysm Surgery Trial, neither systemic hypothermia nor supplemental protective drug affected short- or long-term neurologic outcomes of patients undergoing temporary clipping.

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