Abstract
Types, location and risk factors of recurrent stroke were assessed retrospectively. In a consecutive series of 2, 342 patients of cerebral infarction (CI) and 1, 014 patients of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) who were admitted to our hospital between April 1, 1977 and March 31, 1987, 111 patients with recurrent stroke (CI and ICH) were identified on CT findings and clinical informations. In this study, 80 male and 31 female were included. The mean age at the initial stroke was 62.6 years while the mean age at the recurrence was 64.8 years. The mean interval between two episodes was 26.3 months. Seventy-nine patients (71.2%) repeated CI twice and 12 patients (10.8%) repeated ICH twice. CI were followed by ICH in nine patients (8.1%) and ICH were followed by CI in 11 patients (9.9%). In CI-repeated group, 54 patients repeated atherothrombotic infarction and 22 patients repeated cerebral embolism. 90% of recurrences were CI in patients with CI as the initial stroke, whereas only 52% of recurrences were ICH in patients with ICH as the initial stroke. In patients who had both CI and ICH alternatively, many patients had combination of basal-ganglionic infarction and putaminal or thalamic hemorrhage. This suggests basal-ganglionic infarction and putaminal or thalamic hemorrhage have some common ethilogical background in spite of different types of stroke. From the view point of stroke recurrence, hypertension was the most important and modifiable risk factor. Especially, it is important to get good control of blood pressure after ICH, because only 33% of ICH-repeated group got good control of blood pressure after the initial stroke.
