Analysis of risk factors for recurrent ischemic stroke

Abstract

Background & Objectives : Risk factors for stroke recurrence have been evaluated after acute stroke in a few community-based epidermiologic studies. This study aims to estimate the risk factors of recurrent ischemic stroke Method : From Jan. 1998 to Dec. 2000, all patients with acute ischemic stroke, have been hospitalized in the Hanyang hospital, received regular outpatient treatment every 1-2 months, and had a good compliance. They were accessed according to diagnostic criteria for recurrent ischemic stroke. The poor compliant and expired patients are excluded. We uni- and multivariately compared risk factors (age, sex, infarction site, subtypes for the stroke, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, cardiac diseases, transient ischemic attack, smoking, alcohol) of non-recurrent ischemic stroke to those of recurrent ischemic stroke. Results : Five hundred ninty nine patients of ischemic stroke were identified in this studies, of which 43 patients(7.2%) were first recurrence(27 men, 16 women; mean age 66.3years). The significant association on statistical analysis was with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardioembolism(TOAST classification). However, there was no significant difference in other risk of the recurrence. Conclusion : Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardioembolism played a significant role in ischemic stroke recurrence, compared with non-recurrent ischemic stroke. Therefore, the control of that risk factors appears to offer the greatest chance of reducing risk of the recurrence after ischemic stroke.