Concomitant coronary artery disease among Asian ischaemic stroke patients

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death following ischaemic stroke. We aimed to study the prevalence and associations of concomitant CAD among ischaemic stroke patients in Singapore.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>We prospectively studied 2686 consecutive Asian ischaemic stroke patients.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>CAD was prevalent among 24% of the study patients. Older age, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, atrial fibrillation, large stroke and South Asian ethnicity were independently associated with CAD.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The variables found to be associated with CAD are known atherosclerotic risk factors (older age, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia) or associations of cardioembolic stroke (atrial fibrillation, large stroke). The over-representation of South Asians with concomitant CAD is consistent with the high burden of CAD in this ethnic group.</p>

Timing of hospital presentation after acute cerebral infarction and patients' acceptance of intravenous thrombolysis

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Intravenous thrombolysis has been shown to improve outcome after acute cerebral infarction if given within 3 hours of symptom onset. There are no data in Singapore on the timing of hospital presentation after acute cerebral infarction as well as factors and reasons for delayed presentation.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>As intravenous thrombolysis has recently been licensed for use in acute cerebral infarction in Singapore, we studied 100 consecutive acute cerebral infarction admitted to the Singapore General Hospital for timing of hospital presentation, reasons associated with delay in presentation and hypothetical acceptance of intravenous thrombolysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Only 9% of patients presented to hospital within 2 hours of symptom onset. Factors associated with hospital presentation within 2 hours were a large stroke and lack of pre-hospital consultation. Failure to recognise the severity of symptoms and inability to seek medical attention unaided were the 2 most common reasons for delayed presentation. One-third of patients or their relatives hypothetically would accept intravenous thrombolysis, suggesting that a thrombolysis service is feasible at the Singapore General Hospital. However, it would be hindered by the low proportion of patients who present early to hospital after symptom onset.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Our results support the need for a public education programme to highlight the identification of stroke symptoms and the need to present to hospital as soon as possible after the onset of stroke symptoms.</p>