Specificities of acute phase stroke management in the elderly

Health professionals are currently facing the challenge of managing an increasing number of old patients presenting with acute stroke, due to rapid aging of the population. Compared to their younger counterparts, elderly patients differ in many ways in the setting of acute stroke. Apart from a striking high stroke incidence, which increases exponentially as age increases, cardioembolism also becomes, as patients age, the main cause of ischemic stroke. Delirium, which can challenge the diagnosis, is frequent at the acute phase of stroke, and may be related to an underlying dementia, which is almost exclusively observed in the elderly during stroke. At all levels, management of elderly stroke patients is suboptimal, especially when they are cognitively impaired, with insufficiencies including admission to stroke units, applying standards of care and investigation, reperfusion therapy for ischemic stroke, and finally transfer to rehabilitation centers. A paradigm shift must take place to limit age-related discrimination for acute-phase management of stroke.