A prospective study of stroke in young adults in Cantabria, Spain.

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence, type, and prognosis of stroke in young adults in Cantabria, Spain.We investigated prospectively all patients aged 50 years or below who were admitted with the diagnosis of a stroke to the University Hospital "Marques de Valdecilla" from April 1, 1986, to March 31, 1988. This is the main hospital of the region to which all patients with neurological problems are referred. These patients underwent a complete clinical and laboratory assessment for stroke and had 1-year mean follow-up.The total series included 81 patients. The annual age-specific crude incidence rates of stroke were 17.3 and 10.4 per 100,000 for males and females, respectively. Twenty-four patients (30%) were diagnosed as having nonembolic cerebral infarction, 14 (17%) embolic cerebral infarction, 20 (25%) subarachnoid hemorrhage, 22 (27%) spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage, and one case (1%) cerebral venous thrombosis. Eighteen patients (22%) died within 30 days of the cerebrovascular event,...