Age-Specific Vascular Risk Factor Profiles According to Stroke Subtype

Background--Ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke are increasingly recognized as heterogeneous diseases with distinct subtypes and etiologies. Information on variation in distribution of vascular risk factors according to age in stroke subtypes is limited. We investigated the prevalence of vascular risk factors in stroke subtypes in relation to age. 5Methods and Results--We studied a prospective multicenter university hospital-based cohort of 4033 patients. For patients with ischemic stroke caused by large artery atherosclerosis, small vessel disease, or cardioembolism and for patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage or aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, we calculated prevalences of vascular risk factors in 4 age groups: = 75 years, and mean differences with 95% CIs in relation to the reference age group. Patients aged Conclusions--The prevalence of common cardiovascular risk factors shows different age-specific patterns among various stroke subtypes. Recognition of these patterns may guide tailored stroke prevention efforts aimed at specific risk groups