Journal of neurology
-
Journal of neurology · Dec 2004
Long-term prognosis of ischemic stroke in young adults. Study of 272 cases.
There have been few studies of the long-term prognosis of young adults with ischemic stroke. The present study aimed to evaluate the long-term clinical outcome in a large series of young adults with ischemic stroke admitted to a tertiary medical center over the last 27 years, and to identify possible predictors for mortality, stroke recurrence and poor functional recovery. ⋯ The long-term prognosis for the ischemic stroke in the young is better than in the elderly, but the risk of mortality in young adults with ischemic stroke is much higher than in the general population of the same age. A bad prognosis is associated with an atherosclerotic risk profile, with a higher mortality and recurrent stroke rates and poorer functional recovery. The main functional limitation in the young survivors of their initial ischemic stroke occurs in work activity, since most patients are independent but almost half of them do not return to work.