[Latency in the hospital admittance of stroke]

the hospital referral of 200 patients with cerebrovascular disorders in order to evaluate the possibility of treating acute cerebral infarction.

by means of a personalized interview an evaluation was made of the time that had passed between the start of the symptomatology and the time the patient went into hospital. The results were then grouped into intervals and compared to the different nosological entities of cerebral vascular pathology. The data were analysed using non-parametrical statistical tests (chi 2).

of the 200 patients examined, 79.5% had cerebral ischemy (15.1% AIT, 84.9% infarction) and 20.5% intercranial haemorrhage (92.7% intercerebral haemorrhage). Of the patients suffering from cerebral infarction, 27.4% involved lacunary infarctions, 22.2% cardio-embolic infarctions, and 50.4% atherothrombotic infarctions. In 57% of cases the pathology was located in the carotid region and in 35.5%, in the vertebrobasilar region. 46.5% of the patients suffering from cerebrovascular disorders went into hospital less than 3 hours since the start of the symptomatology. 60.7% of the patients with cerebral infarction arrived within 6 hours. When the latency between the different nosological entities was compared, significant statistical differences were only detected between cardio-embolic infarctions and the other infarctions (p = 0.04) and between carotid and vertebrobasilar pathology (p = 0.01).

based on the hospital referral time, the design of new clinics in our field for the treatment of patients suffering acute cerebral infarction is viable, above all as far as those of cardio-embolic origin and located in the carotid region are concerned.