Abstract
The trends in the incidence, subtype, severity, and short-term outcome of stroke at our hospital during 1997 to 2006 are reviewed. A total of 2,699 acute cases of stroke were admitted during this period, with 1,238 in the former and 1,461 in the latter 5 years. They included approximately 60% of ischemic stroke (CI), 25% of intracerebral hematoma (ICH), and 15% of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). CI was slightly increased in the latter 5 years (59% to 62%). There were two new trends of treatment available: intravascular surgery for cerebral aneurysms and intravenous administration of tPA for ultra-acute cases of cerebral infarction. However, no significant improvement of short-term outcome was evident. The CI group showed the most favorable outcome. Mortality was the highest in the SAH group. The ICH patients most often exhibited severe functional disability. It was found that there was no obvious improvement in the prognosis of our patients over the past 10 years. However, the hospitalization period was markedly shortened between the former and latter 5-year periods, from 27.2 to 23.5 days, respectively. The average age of the patients in the latter group was 2.4 years higher than that in the former one. Of the 2,699 stroke patients, 528 (19.6%) required surgical treatments.
