Objective: We made a study of the 79 patients who were discharged from the Instituto Nacional de Neurología (La Havana, Cuba) during 1998, with the diagnosis of cerebral infarct, with the objective of analysing their behavior.
Patients and methods: In this analysis we considered: the previous clinical history of factors and illnesses of risk, the certainty of the diagnosis in the emergency room, presenting symptoms, clinical signs, vascular territory, etiopathogenic category and results of cranial computerized axial tomography (CAT).
Results and conclusions: Arterial hypertension, smoking, cerebrovascular disease and ischemic cardiopathy were the commonest clinical features seen. There was close agreement between the diagnosis made in the emergency room and the final diagnosis. The presenting symptoms and clinical signs found in these patients were related to the vascular territory and motor involvement was the most constant. There was predominance of the carotid territory, especially of the left side. We also found predominance of atherothrombotic etiopathogenesis, with fewer cardio-embolic or unknown causes. There were few abnormal cranial CAT findings in patients with lacunar infarcts or infarcts localized to the posterior territory.