RESUMEN
This study was carried out in Basrah General Hospital. Patients records of the medical wards for the period 1985-1994 were used to study the size of the problem and trend of cerebrovascular disease [CVD]. Medical records of 1994 were further used to study the seasonal distribution of the disease. CVD showed an increasing trend with a peak in 1993. The seasonal peak of admission in 1994 was from November-March. Over the 10 years period, the case fatality ratio [CFR] was 24.3% and CFR for the period 1985-1989 [before economic sanction] was lower than the CFR for the period 1990-1994 [during economic sanction]. CFR for 1994 was 21%. Deaths among males was higher than that among females. The occurrence of the disease was increasing with age in both sexes. Mean age for males was 62 +/- 11.6 years and for females was 61.1 +/- 10.6 years. The clinical manifestation showed that 46% were conscious on admission, 78% had hemiplegia, 34% had speech deficit and 38% had cranial nerve palsy. The mean period of hospitalization for survived patients was 8.5 +/- 5.1 days and for dead patients was 5.6 +/- 4.2 days, 85% of patients were hypertensive, 23% were diabetic and 16% were having ischemic heart disease [IHD]. Eighteen% were hypertensives and diabetics, while 11% were hypertensive and having IHD