A high burden of ischemic stroke in regions of Eastern/Central Europe is largely due to modifiable risk factors.

A high burden of ischemic stroke in regions of Eastern/Central Europe is largely due to modifiable risk factors. Curr Neurovasc Res. 2015 Jul 30; Authors: Pikija S, Trkulja V, Malojcic B, Mutzenbach JS, Sellner J Abstract Incidence and mortality of ischemic stroke in Croatia is significantly higher than in many other developed European countries. Here, we aimed to evaluate underlying conditions of this unacceptably high ischemic stroke burden. An observational prospective cohort study of ) first-ever ischemic stroke patients identified in a population-based incidence study (N=751) (study 1, S1) and a concurrent case-control trial (215 patients, 125 controls, S2) were conducted in the country of Varazdin from 2007-2010. Atrial fibrillation (AF) was common (36.1% in S1, 40.9% in S2) and mostly (>50%) unrecognized before the index event. In a multivariate analysis, odds of stroke increased with tobacco smoking (OR=3.95, 95%CI 1.33-10.8), unhealthy diet (OR=2.12, 1.12-4.01) and AF (OR=9.40, 4.01-22.0), and decreased with higher education (OR=0.33, 0.11-0.98), moderate alcohol consumption (OR=0.48, 0.25-0.93), higher fasting HDL (OR=0.14, 0.07-0.30) and pre-stroke use of anticoagulants (OR=0.09, 0.01-0.59), antihypertensive drugs (OR=0.52, 0.27-1.00) and statins (OR=0.29, 0.12-0.69. Fourteen-day case fatality was 10.8% (S1) and 6.1% (S2) and the risk was higher with AF, cardioembolic stroke, older age, higher fasting serum glucose, and...
Source: Current Neurovascular Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Curr Neurovasc Res Source Type: research