Analysis of acute stroke patients admitted to the emergency department

Abstract

Aim: In this study we investigated the demographics and medical characteristics of acute stroke patients who applied to emergency department (ED) and were admitted to neurology department (ND). Material and Methods: This study was conducted in a tertiary hospital. The patients’ medical records were reviewed; age, gender, diagnosis, comorbid diseases, previously anticoagulant treatment, brain computerized tomography reports, brain magnetic resonance imaging reports, hospitalized unit, length of hospital stay, vitamin B12 levels, electrocardiography recordings, and the outcome of patients. Results: In the including time of the study, 523 patients were hospitalized to the ND from ED. The patients with cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) were 68.7% (n=357) of the hospitalized patients. The patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) were 74.8 % (n=267) of the patients with CVD. In AIS, the most common comorbid disease was hypertension, followed by atrial fibrillation (AF). The rate of AF was 31% in AIS. AF was newly diagnosed in 46% (38 patients) of patients with AIS, and these patients had no anticoagulation therapy. Vitamin B12 levels were found to be low in 58 (21.7%) of AIS patients. Conclusion: A large number of patients with undiagnosed AF are diagnosed following AIS. Therefore, it is important that these patients should be followed closely for AF and its management, and it is also important to treat vitamin B12 deficiency to prevent stroke development.