Access to rehabilitation facilities in an unselected hospital population affected by acute stroke.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the selection criteria and characteristics of the patients who have access to rehabilitation facilities after having experienced an acute stroke. Between January 1993 and February 1994, 383 patients were recruited in 13 hospitals in Lombardy, and telephonically followed up four months after study entry. The data were collected by members of the Associazione Volontari Ospedalieri (Hospital Volunteers' Association). The 4-month mortality rate was 23%. The primary selection criterion for gaining access to rehabilitation facilities was the degree of disability; the secondary factor was age. Rehabilitation facilities were not available to very severely afflicted or self-sufficient patients, but were preferentially made available to young, partially-dependent patients. A rehabilitative intervention within the first month was made available to fewer than 50% of the patients for whom it was indicated. The absence of care for elderly patients and the delay in its availability for those who actually receive it underline the need for new organisational methods. The data presented here also show that voluntary associations can work as observers of the health service. A more complete study is required in order to understand the real dimensions of the problem and the clinical and social characteristics of the population involved.

[Access to rehabilitation resources for an unselected hospital population of patients with acute seizures]. / Accesso alle risorse riabilitative in una popolazione ospedaliera non selezionata di pazienti con ictus in fase acuta.

The study aimed at evaluating selection criteria and basic characteristics of acute stroke patients admitted to rehabilitation programs. From January 1993 to February 1994, 373 patients from 13 hospitals of the Lombardy region were admitted to the study. The 4 months telephone follow-up was performed by the AVO (Hospital Volunteers Association) volunteers. The 4 months fatality rate was 23%. The patients with a higher disability level were prescribed a rehabilitation program. Rehabilitation resources were not available for very severe or dependent patients being mostly the younger and partially dependent patients more often referred to the services. Only 50% of eligible patients received a rehabilitation intervention within 1 month from the index episode of stroke. The lack of caring resources and the long waiting times stress the need for a reorganization of the rehabilitation services. This study also shows that volunteers can play a role of stricter collaboration with doctors and are ready to collaborate in data collection. A larger and more detailed study is warranted in order to gain a better knowledge on the problem and on the clinical and social characteristics of the stroke victims.

Thrombolytic therapy. From myocardial to cerebral infarction. The MAST-I Group. Multicentre Acute Stroke Trial.

Thrombolysis is proposed for the acute treatment of cerebral infarction as it is able to recanalize occluded arteries and thus potentially restore normal perfusion of the cerebral parenchyma, but the results concerning the efficacy of this treatment are still inconclusive. However, it has been fully demonstrated that thrombolytic treatment, leads to a significant reduction in mortality, in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Data from all of the pilot studies using SK or tPA treatment in acute stroke are described in this review, which underlines the incidence of hemorrhagic transformation (hemorrhagic infart and parenchymal hematoma) and its possible correlation to clinical worsening. Pharmacological, experimental and clinical studies encourage the carrying out of large-scale clinical trials using thrombolytics in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Significant data relating to ongoing controlled clinical trials will be available in the near future; only after the analysis of these results will it be possible to confirm the efficacy of thrombolytics in acute stroke.

Risk factors in schoolchildren associated with a family history of unheralded myocardial infarction or uncomplicated stable angina in male relatives.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis in children with a family history of unheralded myocardial infarction or uncomplicated stable angina. BACKGROUND: In patients with unheralded myocardial infarction, coronary atherosclerosis might have a greater tendency to cause acute coronary occlusion than in patients with uncomplicated stable angina, suggesting the possibility of different risk factors in these two groups of patients. METHODS: Serum lipid levels were compared in children with a family history of unheralded myocardial infarction (236 children) or uncomplicated stable angina (48 children) or no family history of ischemic heart disease (613 children). RESULTS: Mean (+/- 1 SD) total serum cholesterol was higher in children with a family history of myocardial infarction than in control subjects (161 +/- 28 vs. 154 +/- 25 mg%, p < 0.01). In children with a family history of stable angina, mean total serum cholesterol (159 +/- 25 mg%) was similar to that in children with family history of myocardial infarction. High density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-I were higher in children with family history of stable angina than in children with family history of myocardial infarction and control subjects (69 +/- 18 vs. 61 +/- 13 and 60 +/- 13 mg%, p < 0.01; 143 +/- 23 vs. 130 +/- 18 and 129 +/- 18 mg%, p < 0.01, respectively). In children with a family history of myocardial infarction, the low density/high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio was significantly higher than in control subjects (1.53 +/- 0.64 vs. 1.44 +/- 0.56, p < 0.05). Conversely, in children with a family history of stable angina, this ratio (1.24 +/- 0.51) was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than in control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors for coronary athersclerosis in children with a family history of unheralded myocardial infarction are different from those in children with a family history of uncomplicated stable angina. Higher levels of apolipoprotein A-I early in life might reduce the risk of acute coronary syndromes.