[Examination and treatment in cerebrovascular insults. A population-based study from a rural district].

A population-based survey of the use of different types of examination procedures and treatments of stroke is presented. The study area was a rural district with one local hospital. During a period of 2 1/2 years, 125 cases of first strokes and 29 recurrences were identified. The incidence of hospitalized first strokes in a population of 33,769 was 1.48 per 1000. The three week mortality was 27%. 30% of the patients were submitted to CT-scanning, and 25% were transferred to a specialist department. Two patients (1.6%) had surgery and 4.8% started anti-coagulation treatment. The survival data are compared with a 50 year-old Danish survey. Better survival is seen among patients who are initially awake or drowsy. Initially semicomatose or comatose patients still have poor prognoses. 5% of all bed-days used by the population surveyed were used for the treatment of acute stroke.