Dementia Occurs in Approximately 20% of Patients After a First Stroke
May 30, 2011
Dementia Occurs in Approximately 20% of Patients After a First Stroke
By Matthew E. Fink, MD, Interim Chair and Neurologist-in-Chief, Director, Division of Stroke & Critical Care Neurology, Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Fink reports no financial relationship to this field of study. This article originally appeared in the April issue of Neurology Alert. At that time it was peer reviewed by M. Flint Beal, MD, Anne Parrish Titzel Professor, Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY. Dr. Beal reports no financial relationship to this field of study.
Source: Bejot Y, et al. Prevalence of early dementia after first-ever stroke. A 24-year population-based study. Stroke 2011; 42:607-612.
From 1985 to 2008, all first-ever strokes in the city of Dijon, France (150,000 inhabitants) were recorded, and among those patients who were testable (3201/3948 or 81%), 20.4% had post-stroke dementia. The prevalence of post-stroke dementia in patients with lacunar disease was 7 times higher than in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage. Age, vascular risk factors, presence of hemiplegia, and use of prestroke antiplatelet medications were associated with an increased prevalence of post-stroke dementia.