Cough gastric pressure and maximum expiratory mouth pressure in humans.

Maximal expiratory mouth pressure is a well established test that is used to assess expiratory muscle strength. However, low values are difficult to interpret, as they may result from technical difficulties in performing the test, particularly in patients with facial muscle weakness or bulbar dysfunction. We hypothesized that measuring the gastric pressure during a cough, a natural maneuver recruiting the expiratory muscles, might prove to be a useful additional test in the assessment of expiratory muscle function.

The economic burden of stroke in the United Kingdom.

Aim: To estimate the cost of treating stroke in the UK.

Methods: A cost-of-illness model was constructed to estimate stroke-related costs over a 5-year period. The cost estimates were based on data from a large, randomised, prospective study comparing alternative strategies of stroke care.

A multicentre observational study of presentation and early assessment of acute stroke.

Objective: To investigate delays in the presentation to hospital and evaluation of patients with suspected stroke.

Design: Multicentre prospective observational study.

Setting: 22 hospitals in the United Kingdom and Dublin.

Randomized controlled study of stroke unit care versus stroke team care in different stroke subtypes.

Background And Purpose: The benefits of stroke unit management may vary according to stroke subtype. A post hoc analysis of the influence of stroke subtype on stroke unit effectiveness was undertaken by using prospective data collected in a randomized controlled trial.

Methods: Two hundred sixty-seven patients with moderately severe ischemic stroke (164 with large-vessel infarcts and 103 with lacunar infarcts) were randomly allocated to treatment in stroke units or in general medical wards with specialist stroke team support.