Stroke review and new frontiers in management

Abstract

Stroke is a sudden focal or global neurological dysfunction of vascular origin with disability lasting more than 24hours or resulting in death. When disability lasts for less than 24 hours, it is termed transient ischemic attack (TIA). It is the third most common cause of death in most western population after coronary artery disease and cancer ^1. It is thus the commonest life-threatening neurological disorder in terms of both morbidity and mortality and the resulting disability is the most important single cause of severe disability among western people living in their own homes.²

Stroke, the major consequence of cerebrovascular disease afflicts all ages but certainly is more usual in the sixth to eighth decades of life. As public health, medical, and social advances continue to extend life expectancy, we can expect an increase in the size of the world community at risk of stroke, in the new millennium.