Ischemic stroke in young adults: Results from the university of Wisconsin stroke registry

We prospectively evaluated 128 consecutive young adults aged 18-50 years who suffered from at least one ischemic stroke. Men (92 of 128, 72%) predominated and had a mean age of 41 ± 8 years. Women (36 of 128, 28%) had a mean age of 40 ± 8 years (ns). Risk factors that separated male and female groups included previous stroke, which as seen overall in 34% (43 of 128; M/F = 38/5, p = 0.002), andstroke in thefamily, which was seen overall in21% (27 of 128;M/F = 22/5, p = 0.005). Thirty-day mortality was seen in 3% (4 of 128), all of whom were men. Stroke causes included atherosclerotic in 22% (28 of 128; M/F = 19/9, ns), cardioembolic in 17% (22 of 128, M/F = 17/5, ns), arteriopathic in 17% (22 of 128, M/F = 11/11, p < 0.002 for female preponderance), and coagulopathic in 15% (19 of 128, M/F = 18/1, p = 0.002 for male preponderance). Stroke causes remained "undetermined, " including small deep stroke and mixed causes, in 16%( 21 of 128; M/F = 17/4, ns), "uncertain, " including migraine-related and mitral valve prolapse, in 9% (11 of 128; M/F = 3/8, p = 0.002 for female preponderance), and "unknown" in 4% (5 of 128; M/F = 5/0, ns). These data, as part of the University of Wisconsin Stroke Registry, compare favorably to similar, previously published series from other institutions. Composite data from several of these series are also included.