Onwuchekwa A C, Onwuchekwa R C, Asekomeh E G
Department of Medicine, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
J Vasc Nurs. 2009 Dec;27(4):98-102. doi: 10.1016/j.jvn.2009.08.001.
Stroke in adults under the age of 45 results in a greater loss of potential years of life than for other adults. This premature loss of life is associated with a high social and economic burden. Few data are available regarding stroke among young Nigerian adults in the Niger Delta Basin. This study sought to determine the incidence, risk factors, stroke subtypes and case fatality of stroke among young Nigerian adults. The medical records of all 18- to 45-year-old patients admitted with stroke in the medical wards of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) from January 2003 to December 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. Of the 611 patients admitted with stroke, 54 (8.8%) were aged 18-45 years. There were 26 males and 28 females. Hypertension was responsible for 42 (77.8%) stroke cases. Other important risk factors were excessive alcohol intake (27.8%), heart disease (13%), diabetes mellitus (11.1%), cigarette smoking (11.1%) and HIV infection (7.4%). The total case fatality was 29.6% with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) having higher case fatality of 69.2% than cerebral infarction (CI) with a case fatality of 16.7%. Among the young Nigerian adults who presented with stroke, 53.7% survived. The authors conclude from the above information that the incidence of stroke in young patients at UPTH is low. Hypertension is the most important risk factor of stroke; however, other less common but important risk factors in the young adults are cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus and HIV. Efforts should be made to reduce the impact of stroke in this age group by focusing on these risk factors, which are either preventable or modifiable.
45岁以下成年人中风导致的潜在生命年损失比其他成年人更大。这种过早的生命损失伴随着高昂的社会和经济负担。关于尼日尔三角洲盆地年轻尼日利亚成年人中风的数据很少。本研究旨在确定年轻尼日利亚成年人中风的发病率、危险因素、中风亚型和病死率。对2003年1月至2008年12月在哈科特港大学教学医院（UPTH）内科病房收治的所有18至45岁中风患者的病历进行回顾性分析。在611例中风患者中，54例（8.8%）年龄在18至45岁之间。其中男性26例，女性28例。42例（77.8%）中风病例由高血压引起。其他重要危险因素包括过量饮酒（27.8%）、心脏病（13%）、糖尿病（11.1%）、吸烟（11.1%）和艾滋病毒感染（7.4%）。总病死率为29.6%，脑出血（ICH）的病死率（69.2%）高于脑梗死（CI）的病死率（16.7%）。在出现中风的年轻尼日利亚成年人中，53.7%存活。作者根据上述信息得出结论，UPTH年轻患者中风的发病率较低。高血压是中风最重要的危险因素；然而，年轻成年人中其他不太常见但重要的危险因素是吸烟、糖尿病和艾滋病毒。应通过关注这些可预防或可改变的危险因素，努力降低中风对该年龄组的影响。
