Secular trend of strokes

The present study demonstrates a secular trend toward increasing stroke occurrence at CUK but decreasing stroke-related lethality over time. Yet in-hospital stroke mortality remains stable. The ischemic/hemorrhagic sex ratio was close to 1. Advancing age, beyond 60 years, was identified as a risk factor for stroke occurrence and as a predictive factor for stroke-related lethality. The role of gender is irrelevant in both stroke occurrence and stroke-related deaths. Hemorrhagic stroke tends to determine more deaths than ischemic stroke. Codified stroke treatment provides some protection for stroke in the sense of decreased lethality or lack of excess mortality compared with other leading causes of admission to the CUK ICU. The EL NINO phenomenon is incriminated in the increase in stroke incidence. Seasons did not show a significant difference in stroke occurrence, possibly because of seasonal adjustment.