[Neuropsychiatric complications after stroke]

Stroke represents a major public health problem in Hungary, but relatively little attention is directed toward poststroke neuropsychiatric disturbances. Stroke patients frequently represent mood disturbances, cognitive decline, anxiety disorders, and sometimes serious schizophorm or paranoid states. Poststroke depression is the most common and possibly amenable form to therapeutic intervention. Depressive symptoms have negative effect on the rehabilitation process, quality of life and even on long-term survival. Considering drug therapy, in the past decade tricyclic drugs have been replaced by newly developed antidepressants with milder side-effects profile. Our knowledge on the relationship among vascular and other types of dementia has been extended in the recent years. This development also has some therapeutic implications. It seems likely that other psychiatric disorders, psychoses, pathological affect and personality disorders also inhibit recovery and limit long-term quality of life, but available data on this topic is limited.