MAIN RESULTS:

1. Worse functional outcome in patients with a second stroke within three months of the initial event.

2. Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of new hospital admissions after stroke.

THESIS DEFENCE:

Thesis: Poststroke Complications and Prognosis: Functional Outcome, Hospital Readmissions, Survival and Causes of Death
Candidate: Gitta Rohweder
Time: January 17, 2020 at 12:15
Place: St. Olavs Hospital, Medical Technical Research Center: Auditorium MTA
Link to university website (in Norwegian)

SUMMARY:

(1) A new stroke and lung infection are the complications associated with the highest risk of functional impairment following acute stroke. Other types of infections and falls are also linked with impaired function. On the other hand, myocardial infarction, pain and urinary tract infection are not.

Rohweder and co-workers examined the functional ability of 244 patients three months after an acute stroke. In totalt, 13 different complications were registered during follow-up, of which seven occured in at least 5 % of the patients.

(2) Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of new hospital admissions following acute stroke, accounting for approximately 20% of cases. Infections, fall injuries and bleeding are also relatively common, and patients are particularly susceptible to new admissions within the first six months.

243 of the stroke patients treated at St. Olav’s Hospital in 2002 and 2003 were included in this study. Only 6.6% survived the next ten years without new hospital admissions. Those who were re-admitted had on average 3.4 hospital visits during the ten-year follow-up period.

REFERENCES:

(1) Rohweder, G., Ellekjær, H., Salvesen, Ø., Naalsund, E., & Indredavik, B. (2015). Functional outcome after common poststroke complications occurring in the first 90 days. Stroke, 46(1), 65-70.

(2) Rohweder, G., Salvesen, Ø., Ellekjær, H., & Indredavik, B. (2017). Hospital readmission within 10 years post stroke: frequency, type and timing. BMC neurology, 17(1), 116.