[The cerebrovascular stroke unit: the concept and its utility].

Patients suffering from stroke within a geographically defined area should be admitted to hospital early, treated by an organised multidisciplinary group and provided with a period of rehabilitation whenever necessary. All stroke units should, essentially, have the characteristics of the units assessed in aleatory clinical trials. Patients treated in stroke units have a lower mortality rate, less dependence and less need for long-term hospitalisation, without a systematic increase in the use of resources (in terms of hospitalisation time). Admission to stroke units should not be restricted to age, sex or stroke severity. The stroke units should be adapted to the existing conditions and resources in each hospital. They should be built progressively, with the knowledge that they do not use more of the existing resources, and should be fundamentally based on health care organisation.