[Cerebral infarction in young adults].

Background: Young patients with cerebral infarction may differ from old patients with regard to clinical and prognostic aspects, and this may have implications for clinical management.

Material And Methods: The article is based on literature found on PubMed and results from the authors' population-based study of 232 patients (aged 15-49) with cerebral infarction in Hordaland, Norway.

Results And Interpretation: The aetiology of cerebral infarction differs between young and old patients. Prothrombotic states and dissection are more frequent, while atherosclerosis is a relatively rare cause of cerebral infarction among young patients. After 6 years of follow-up in the Hordaland study; 9.9% of the patients had died, 9.9% had recurrence of cerebral infarction, and 10.5% had developed post-stroke seizures. Recurrence of cerebral infarction was strongly associated with the number of traditional risk factors. Even though most studies report that a majority of patients are functionally independent upon discharge from the hospital, many of these patients drop out of their jobs. The aetiology of the disease is unknown in a large proportion of young patients and it is not known why so many drop out of their jobs; future studies should address these issues.