[Ischemic strokes in young adults]

Ischemic stroke due to embolic heart diseases and associated factors in Benin hospital setting

INTRODUCTION

Poor access to cardiovascular checkups is a major cause of ignorance of embolic heart diseases as the etiology for ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVE

Study ischemic strokes due to embolic heart diseases and their associated factors.

METHOD

It was a cross-sectional, prospective, descriptive and analytical study conducted from November 1, 2014 to August 31, 2015 on 104 patients with ischemic stroke confirmed through brain imaging. Embolic heart diseases included arrhythmia due to atrial fibrillation (AF), atrial flutter, myocardial infarction (MI), heart valve diseases and atrial septal aneurysm (ASA). The dependent variable was embolic heart disease while independent variables encompassed socio-demographic factors, patients' history, and lifestyle. Data analysis was carried out through SAS 9.3.

RESULTS

The rate of embolic heart diseases (EHD) as etiology for ischemic stroke was 26% (28/104). AF accounted for 69% of embolic heart diseases and 22.8% of etiologies for ischemic stroke. Ischemic strokes prevalence was 3.5%, 2.5% and 1.2% respectively for heart valve diseases, MI and ASA. The associated factor was age (p=0.000).

CONCLUSION

The diagnosis of a potential cardiac source of embolism is essential because of therapeutic and prognostic implications. Wherefore, there is need for cardiovascular examination particularly Holter ECG and cardiac ultrasound examination which are not always accessible to our populations.

[Ischemic stroke in young patients: about 6 cases]

Les accidents ischémiques cérébraux (AIC) du sujet jeune se caractérisent par une panoplie d’étiologies différentes de celles des accidents vasculaires cérébraux (AVC) du sujet âgé d'où l'intérêt de bien creuser devant une telle atteinte à la recherche surtout d'une thrombophilie ou d'une cardiopathie emboligène. Cependant, il ne faut pas négliger une exposition de plus en plus accrue du sujet jeune à des facteurs de risque cardio-vasculaires tel le tabagisme qui accélère le processus d'athérosclérose, étiologie principale d'AVC tout âge confondu. Nous avons rétrospectivement collecté les données de six patients âgés de moins de 45 ans qui ont été hospitalisés dans notre service pour un AIC. La moyenne d’âge était de 35,3 et les hommes représentaient 16% de notre série. L'enquête étiologique a conclu à un syndrome des anticorps anti-phospholipides secondaire à un syndrome de Gougerot Sjögren chez l'un des patients, un déficit en protéine S chez deux patients et un syndrome de Sneddon chez un autre. Les causes d'AIC n'ont pas été identifiées dans les deux autres cas. Un traitement à base d'anti-vitamines K ou d'antiagrégants plaquettaires a été instauré en cas d’étiologie révélée.

Stroke care in young patients

The aims of this study were (i) to evaluate the clinical features of a consecutive series of young patients with ischemic stroke and (ii) to assess the changes in the clinical management of these patients over the study period. All consecutive cases of young adults aged 16 to 44 years, with ischemic stroke, that were admitted between 2000 and 2005 in 10 Italian hospitals were included. We retrospectively identified 324 patients. One or more vascular risk factors were present in 71.5% of the patients. With respect to the diagnostic process, an increase in the frequency of cerebral noninvasive angiographic studies and a decrease in the use of digital subtraction angiography were observed (P < 0.001 and P = 0.03, resp.). Undetermined causes decreased over 5-year period of study (P < 0.001). The diagnosis of cardioembolism increased. Thrombolysis was performed for 7.7% of the patients. PFO closure (8%) was the most frequently employed surgical procedure. In conclusion, the clinical care that is given to young patients with ischemic stroke changed over the study period. In particular, we detected an evolution in the diagnostic process and a reduction in the number of undetermined cases.

Hormone-replacement therapy, dementia and stroke

Hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) has been used for more than 40 years to reduce perimenopausal symptoms. Estrogens may protect brain structures and functional systems affected by Alzheimer's disease, which suggests that maintaining high levels of hormones with HRT can protect against Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, high premenopausal estrogen concentrations are thought to be protective against stroke and, consequently, in the past, HRT was considered to be a potential protective agent against stroke. However, large clinical trials have failed to demonstrate a benefit from HRT on either cognitive performance or risk of dementia. In addition, although HRT has been associated with a reduction in the risk of heart disease in observational studies, results regarding stroke have been less clear. Recently, evidence has shown that HRT does not reduce but actually increases vascular risk. Here, the data from the most important studies are examined, concluding that HRT has no beneficial effect on dementia or stroke risk reduction in postmenopausal women.

[Ischemic strokes in young adults and illegal drugs]

One out of four ischemic strokes in France occurs in adults under 65 years old. About a third of them remain unexplained even after an extensive etiological assessment. A large part of these unexplained strokes could be linked to illegal drug abuse, and 10 % are estimated to be directly linked to illegal drugs in some international studies. The most frequently incriminated recreational drug remains cocaine, via several mechanisms. However, several other illegal drugs, some very commonly used such as cannabis, are suspected to have an important role in neurovascular diseases. In this article, we reviewed the epidemiological, pathophysiological and clinical studies, published in the international literature over the past 30 years. The drug-caused stroke epidemiology needs to be more precisely studied, as well as the underlying mechanisms depending on each drug. This is a public health issue that affects an economically active population, as stroke is the first cause of acquired handicap in adults.