How accurate is Siriraj stroke score among Ethiopians? A brief communication

In hospitals where emergency neuroimaging is not available, the use of stroke scores has been proposed to distinguish ischemic from hemorrhagic stroke. The aim of this case study is to evaluate the accuracy of SSS among Ethiopian patients and was conducted in the Addis Ababa University teaching Hospital. Between September 1, 2000 and August 31, 2001. A total of 128 patients were admitted with a clinical diagnosis of stroke. 49(38.3%) had a CT scan result that was done within 24 to 72 hours of admission. CT revealed cerebral infarction in 20 (40.8%) patients and hemorrhagic stroke including subarachnoid hemorrhage in 29 (59.2%) patients. SSS was calculated and its sensitivity to diagnose hemorrhage and infarction was 77% and 61.5% respectively with an overall accuracy of 69.2% (Table 1) Its positive predictive values were 67% and 72.7% for hemorrhage and infarction respectively. The study has shown that bedside clinical examination does not always help in distinguishing between cerebral infarction and intracranial hemorrhage.