Recurrent stroke in young patients

Cerebrovascular Diseases and Neurorehabilitation Research unit, Diomid Gherman Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova, Department of Neurology nr.1, Nicolae Testemitanu State University of medicine and Pharmacy, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova, Functional Neurology Research unit, Diomid Gherman Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Chișinău, Republic of MoldovaIntroduction. According to the studies, approximately 10% of ischemic strokes occur in people aged less than 50 years. A new stroke strikes an estimated 3.6 million young people each year. The risk of recurrent stroke in young stroke survivors varies from 9.4% in the next 5 years, up to 19.4% in the next 20 years. The most common etiologies of ischemic strokes in young people include premature atherosclerotic vascular disease (7-11%), hematologic disorders inducing thrombophilia (7%), cervical artery dissection (8-20%), cardioembolic (6-33%), and cryptogenic stroke (21-60%).Material and methods. A retrospective analysis of 1687 medical records of patients with ischemic stroke was performed from January 2018 to December 2019. 56 patients (≤ 50 years old) were included in the study. Risk factors, clinical signs, neuroimaging were analyzed - all of these were stratified by the presence of recurrent stroke criteria. SPSS Statistics, Version 25.0 was used.Results. The cohort study consisted of 2 groups: the first group- patients with the first-ever stroke (46); the second one– patients with recurrent stroke (10).Conclusions. Recurrent ischemic stroke in young patients has more variable symptoms, with a more unfavorable prognosis if compared with the first ever stroke in the same category of patients. So, it requires the establishment of recurrence risk factors and an efficient secondary prophylaxis