Stroke: Definition, Etiology, Classification and Risk Factors
The term stroke defines the findings of a sudden focal neurological syndrome that occurs due to the vascular events. Stroke is the most common cause of morbidity and the second most common cause of death in the world. Ischemic events are the most common cause of stroke. The hemorrhagic events consist of primary intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Ischemic strokes are classified according to their etiologies as 1- stroke due to large artery atherothrombosis, 2- cardioembolic stroke, 3- stroke due to small vessel disease, 4- stroke due to rarely seen reasons, 5- stroke due to undetermined etiologies. Stroke has treatable (hypertension, diabetes mellitus) and untreatable (race, gender) risk factors. Prognostic factors of stroke are known as localization and type of the lesion, severity of stroke and the presence of coma on admission. Most of the patients with stroke need rehabilitation after the acute stage of the event.
Keywords : Stroke, classification, risk factors, prognosis