Factors predicting early stroke fatality in Poland. Preliminary report of the Polish National Stroke Registry.

Poland has one of the highest rates of death due to stroke in Europe, which, in contrast to many industrialized countries, has not changed since at least 1984. To improve this unfavorable situation, the entire approach to stroke management needs to be recognized. For this purpose, an analysis of stroke epidemiology regarding regional differences was one of the the strategic points of the Polish National Project of Stroke Prevention and Treatment. The Polish National Stroke Registry was maintained from 1 January to 31 December 2000 in 59 Neurological Department in all 16 districts of Poland. In total 11,107 patients were included: 11% with intracerebral hemorrhage, 63.4% with ischemic stroke, and 25.6% with unclassified stroke. Computed tomography (CT) was performed in 73.6% of patients. Analysis of in-hospital deaths showed great differences between the centers (from 8% to 36%). According to multifactorial analysis, not only well-known predictors of early death (decrease in consciousness at the onset of stroke, decrease in functional state prior to stroke, and severity of stroke) influence the prognosis. In centers with high risk of death, CT, especially CT on admission, was performed significantly less often (4.2% vs. 62.6%), early rehabilitation was delayed (38.3% vs. 73.4%), and secondary prevention treatment was prescribed to fewer patients (antiplatelettherapy 36.4% vs. 77.4%; antithrombotic therapy 4.9% vs. 13%).