Clinical and pathogenic features of ischemic stroke among representatives of different gender and age groups

Abstract

A total of 1410 patients with ischemic stroke (IS) of four main clinical and pathogenic subtypes, viz., atherothrombotic, cardioembolic, hemodynamic, and lacunar strokes, were studied. We analyzed the dependence of the pathogenic subtype of the stroke, its background pathologies, and stroke risk factors on the age and gender of the patients. It was found that senior patients were more susceptible to atherothrombotic ischemic strokes and patients of working age more frequently suffered from lacunar and hemodynamic strokes, although cases of atherothrombotic strokes in this age cohort were more often observed in male patients. The significance of arterial hypertension in the development of ischemic stroke decreases with age but the role of cerebral arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease, and cardiac arrhythmias greatly expands. At retirement age, the prevalent risk factors of ischemic stroke are lack of physical exercise, being overweight, and dyslipidemia, with reducing roles of smoking and stress, which are more relevant to the working ages. The occurrence of particular risk factors and IS background diseases is age specific but in different age periods and for different pathogenic subtypes of ischemic stroke this dependence changes, while at the retirement ages it is less distinct than for the working-age cohort.