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Ischemic stroke in Korean young adults
Author(s) -
Kwon S. U.,
Kim J. S.,
Lee J. H.,
Lee M. C.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0404.2000.00004.x
Subject(s) - medicine , stroke (engine) , etiology , cardiology , vasculitis , cigarette smoking , disease , mechanical engineering , engineering
Objectives – To evaluate the characteristics of ischemic stroke in Korean young adults. Material and methods – We prospectively studied 149 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke aged between 15 to 44 years who were admitted to Asan Medical Center. All patients underwent brain CT/MRI and the majority of them underwent cerebral angiogram, echocardiography and laboratory studies for coagulopathy and vasculitis. Stroke subtypes were classified according to TOAST criteria. Results – In our study, men (75.2%) significantly outnumbered women. Stroke subtypes were: large artery atherosclerosis 20.8%, small artery occlusive disease 17.4%, cardioembolism 18.1%, undetermined causes 16.8%, and other determined etiologies 26.8%. The prevalence of hypertension, cigarette smoking and habitual alcohol consumption was significantly higher in men than in women. Conclusions – Compared to the Western studies, the deviation of sex ratio and the relative proportion of large artery atherosclerosis/small artery occlusion was higher. Heavy exposure to risk factors such as hypertension and cigarette smoking in Korean young men may explain these differences.