Clinico-radiological profile, risk factors, aetiology and prognosis in patients with acute cerebrovascular accident at a district hospital in North-East India.

Background: Stroke is ultimately the result of several insults to the brain and cardiovascular systems, as has been repeatedly demonstrated. These risk factors influence the type and severity of cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs), as well as the timing of strokes. Due to significant variations in lifestyle among inhabitants of different communities and regions within the Indian population, the risk factors also differ. This study aims to examine the clinico-radiological profile, risk factors, aetiology and prognosis in patients with acute CVAs.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for 18 months in the Department of General Medicine, Civil Hospital, Aizawl. The sample included 109 patients with acute CVAs confirmed by radiological imaging and clinical examinations, who were admitted to the hospital from September 2022. The type of stroke, site, extent of lesion, associated anomalies and prognosis of the patients were recorded using a predesigned questionnaire. Descriptive statistics in the form of frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics in the form of Chi-square test were used.

Results: The mean age of the study participants was 61.67 ± 16.18 years. Forty-two participants were female and 67 participants were male. The ischaemic type of CVA (77.1%) was more than the haemorrhagic type of CVA (22.9%). The middle cerebral artery alone was the commonest site of lesion (68.8%). Complete recovery was observed in 32.1% of the participants, 56.9% had partial recovery and 11% unfortunately died. Complete recovery was observed more in participants with ischaemic type of CVA (35.7%) than haemorrhagic type of CVA (20%) and this was statistically significant (P < 0.05). History of seizures, smoking, alcohol intake, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease were significantly associated with poorer prognosis.

Conclusion: Patients with CVA with underlying co-morbidities such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, alcohol intake and history of seizures have a poorer prognosis, and hence concerted efforts are required to curb all these factors.