Results in a Municipal Hospital

• One hundred consecutive cases with an admitting diagnosis of cerebrovascular dis-ease treated in a four-bed Stroke Intensive Care Unit were reviewed in regard to final diagnosis and outcome. Eleven had final diagnoses other than cerebrovascular disease. Eighty-one had specific diagnoses as to major type of cerebrovascular disease present. The outcome in these cases was compared with that of 81 control cases matched for diagnosis only and blindly selected from concurrent admissions to an adjacent neuro-logical ward. No significant differences in overall mortality (33 % versus 27%) or in mortality by diagnostic category were found. This was true even if deaths in the first 48 hours were omitted from both groups to compensate for the selective admission of more seriously ill patients to the Stroke Intensive Care Unit. These results are compared to those reported by others. We concluded that specialized stroke intensive care units modeled on coronary care units do not have a significant impact on acute stroke mortality. Additional Key Words intensive care units cerebrovascular disease coronary care units cerebrovascular disease mortality • The success of the coronary care unit has led to the development of other specialized intensive care units, including those for patients with cerebrovas-cular disease. The inclusion of stroke as a major area of concern for the Regional Medical Programs gave this trend additional impetus. The very proliferation of Stroke Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in this country has led to the suggestion that they should be formed in hospitals elsewhere.1 Yet, the effectiveness of the units in reducing acute stroke mortality is open to question. Prior studies hav