[Clinical picture and therapy of cerebral apoplexy]

The clinical syndrome of "stroke" at first calls for a differentiation between the prognostic more unfavorable massive hemorrhage and the syndromes of cerebral hypoxia or ischemia. The ratio of hemorrhage to ischemia is about 1 to 5. Conclusions may already be drawn on the nature of the apoplectic insult from the clinical symptomatology. For example, the hemorrhagic insult in general begins with severe manifestations of neurological dysfunction such as hemiplegia and coma, while the symptoms of the ischemic insult frequently do not develop all of a sudden but in the course of hours, rarely from 1-2 days. Digitalisation in combination with dextran infusions is the method of choice in treating intermittent ischemias, particularly those provoked by hypertension. Rehabilitation, i.e. passive and active physical exercise, should be started as early as possible. In addition, particular importance must be attributed to prevention and especially to the early recognition of hypertension and of cardiac diseases as a socio-medical problem.