New York state journal of medicine
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Perioperative cerebrovascular accidents after general surgical procedures are rare, but devastating and often fatal. The purpose of this study was to identify the perioperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors associated with perioperative strokes after general surgical procedures. Over a five-year period, 19 patients of 24,641 general and vascular surgical procedures (0.08%) suffered a perioperative stroke. ⋯ Only one patient had an intracerebral hemorrhage. Although the exact mechanism of perioperative stroke remains uncertain, its association with abnormal cardiograms, lack of association with carotid bruits, and lack of intracerebral hemorrhage all suggest that emboli from the heart is the major cause in most patients. These data indicate that a perioperative stroke is associated with a very high mortality rate (26%) and is a potentially predictable complication in the majority of patients.
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Biography Historical Article
Bernard John Dowling Irwin, MD. Physician, naturalist, and military hero.