Stroke in South Libya
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Date
2002
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sebha University
Abstract
Objective: To determine incidence and risk factors for stroke in the Fezzan region, South Libya.
Setting: 2nd March Teaching Hospital, Sebha, South Libya.
Methods: This was a prospective hospital-based study of stroke patients admitted to 2nd March Teaching Hospital during a period from January 2001 to December 2001.
Results: Two hundred and thirty-two patients were admitted due to stroke during the study period to give an average annual incidence rate of 662 per 100000 deaths. One hundred and thirty patients (56%) were male. The mean age was 61± 16years. The 30-days case morality rate was 22.4%. A diagnosis of brain infarction was made in 182 patients (78.4%). Of the remainder, intracerebral hemorrhage accounted for 13.4% and subarachnosis hemorrhage for 3.4%. Among risk factors hypertension (66.3%) overshadowed the rest. Cardiac disease (34.3%) was the second common risk factor.
Conclusion: The incidence of stroke is high in South Libya. Therefore, active programs need to be initiated to identify risk factors in the population at large. Upon identification effective therapy should be introduced and maintained.
Description
Keywords
Stroke, hypertension, cardiac disease.