Early rehabilitation and neuroprotective drug therapy outcomes in elderly patients with acute stroke

Sixty elderly patients, viro cluffered from acute stroke and were admitted within a 1-year period to the Department of Geriatrics in the First Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China, underwent early rehabilitation in combination with neuroprotective drug therapy. Limb movement, cognitive functions and daily life self-care ability in elderly patients upon admission and discharge were assessed using the Hunt-Hess scale, functional independence measures and mini-mental state examination. The mean duration of hospital stay among the 60 patients was 35 days. Upon discharge, 42 （75%） of the patients exhibited cognitive impairment to varying degrees, and 25 （45%） of the 56 stroke patients who underwent rehabilitation evaluation attained independence in daily living activities, 11 （20%） required intermittent supervision, and 20 （36%） required 24-hour constant supervision during performance of these activities. Results demonstrated that early rehabilitation treatment in combination with neuroprotective therapy for acute stroke was effective.

Post-stroke seizures in consecutive elderly stroke patients

This prospective study sought to investigate the clinical, radiological and electroencephalographic （EEG） characteristics of seizures in elderly stroke patients, and their outcomes. Over a 2-year study period, 158 consecutive elderly patients with stroke were examined and followed up. Of these patients, 32 （20%） developed seizures, primarily related to stroke, within a follow up period between 5 months and 2 years. Of these 32 cases, 20 experienced infarctions, and 12 experienced hemorrhages. Involvement of cortical regions was detected in most of the patients exhibiting seizures. In these patients, 44% of the lesions involved cortical areas exclusively or in addition to subcortical areas observed on computed tomography （CT） images. Twenty-five patients （78%） developed early seizures （within 2 weeks after stroke）, and half exhibited immediate post-stroke seizures. None of the patients exhibiting early onset seizures developed recurrent seizures or epilepsy, while 57% of late onset seizures （four cases） developed epilepsy. No specific EEG pattems were apparent in those who later developed epilepsy. Overall, early onset seizures after stroke were found to be relatively common, and did not affect outcome. Late onset seizures were less common, but were associated with chronic epilepsy.

Nutritional status in chronically hospitalized stroke patients complicated with pulmonary infection

Complicated pulmonary infection following stroke has traditionally been considered an aspirated infection by many physicians, and little attention has been paid to concomitant protein-energy malnutrition. In the present study, we hypothesized that protein-energy malnutrition may be present in hospitalized chronic stroke patients complicated with pulmonary infection. The results revealed that body protein and fat stores were significantly depleted in stroke patients with pulmonary infection. Protein-energy malnutrition was present in 12 of 27 patients with pulmonary infection. In comparison, only eight of 42 stroke patients without pulmonary infection exhibited protein-energy malnutrition. A significantly higher prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition was found in the pulmonary infection group, suggesting that protein-energy malnutrition is more likely to be present in hospitalized chronic stroke patients with pulmonary infection.