RESUMO
Objective: To identify case fatality rates and predictors of stroke in a private clinic in Kinshasa; Democratic Republic of Congo. Methods: Two hundred and twelve black Africans were consecutively admitted to a clinic and prospectively assessed during the first 30 days by CT scan-proven stroke types and outcome. univariate and multivariate analyses were used to estimate the in-hospital mortality risk for the following baseline characteristics: age; gender; education; arterial hypertension; diabetes; stroke types; leukocyte count; and haematocrit; blood glucose; uric acid; fibrinogen and total cholesterol levels. Results: Haemorrhagic and ischaemic strokes were present in 52 and 48of the study population; respectively; and 44of all stroke type patients; 29of haemorrhagic stroke and 31of ischaemic stroke patients died. Compared to the survivors; deceased patients were significantly (p 0.001) older with higher leukocyte counts and haematocrit; haemoglobin and fibrinogen levels; but lower glycaemic levels. The variable significantly associated with all stroke type mortalities in the multivariate model was ischaemic stroke (HR Ci = 4.8-8.2 for tertile 3 and RR = 12.9; 95Ci = 7.8-18.4 for tertile 4; p 0.001) and higher glycaemia (RR Ci = 1.4-5.7 for tertile 3 and RR = 6.7; 95Ci = 5.2-9.2 for tertile 4; p 0.001). Conclusion: We have shown that all acute stroke types remain a deadly nosological entity; and ischaemic stroke; baseline haematocrit and fibrinogen levels; and dependency on others' care were significantly associated with all stroke mortalities. Moreover; hyperfibrinogaemia and hyperglycaemia were the significant predictors of case fatality in ischaemic stroke patients. in Africa; the top priority for resource allocation for stroke services should go to the primary prevention of stroke