What Is the Mortality due to Stroke?
Stroke is the second most common cause of mortality, after cardiovascular disease. The crude death rates range from 63.5/100.000 (males Switzerland 1992) to 273.4/ 100.000 (females Russia 1991). The underlying stroke etiology influences the 30-day mortality: 8-15% for cerebral infarction, 42 46% for subarachnoid hemorrhage and 48-82% for intracerebral hemorrhage. The causes of 180-day mortality following acute stroke are mainly due to comorbid diseases: heart disease in 35% of the cases, acute and recurrent stroke in 25%, pneumonia in 15%, pulmonary embolism in 10% and other causes in 15%. The age-specific mortality rates increase exponentially with age. doubling every 5 years after 45 years. A trend of reduction in death rate is observed in many European countries as well as North America. This de-crease is probably multifactorial. The detection and more effective treatment for hypertension may play an important factor, as well as improved acute medical care and improvement in diagnos
