Recurrent stroke in young patients

Abstract

Introduction. According to the studies, approximately 10% of ischemic strokes occur in people aged less than 50 years. A new stroke strikes an estimated 3.6 million young people each year. The risk of recurrent stroke in young stroke survivors varies from 9.4% in the next 5 years, up to 19.4% in the next 20 years. The most common etiologies of ischemic strokes in young people include premature atherosclerotic vascular disease (7-11%), hematologic disorders inducing thrombophilia (7%), cervical artery dissection (8-20%), cardioembolic (6-33%), and cryptogenic stroke (21-60%).Material and methods. A retrospective analysis of 1687 medical records of patients with ischemic stroke was performed from January 2018 to December 2019. 56 patients (≤ 50 years old) were included in the study. Risk factors, clinical signs, neuroimaging were analyzed - all of these were stratified by the presence of recurrent stroke criteria. SPSS Statistics, Version 25.0 was used.Results. The cohort study consisted of 2 groups: the first group- patients with the first-ever stroke (46); the second one– patients with recurrent stroke (10).Conclusions. Recurrent ischemic stroke in young patients has more variable symptoms, with a more unfavorable prognosis if compared with the first ever stroke in the same category of patients. So, it requires the establishment of recurrence risk factors and an efficient secondary prophylaxis.