[The clinical features of arterial hypertension complicated by an old ischemic cerebral stroke].

The course of arterial hypertension (AH) was evaluated retrospectively in 306 patients, who had undergone annual hospital examination and treatment during the previous five years. After five years, AH had got complicated with ischemic cerebral stroke (ICS) in 147 patients (group 1). AH had not got complicated with ICS in 149 patients (group 2). These patients had been observed for another five years. By the end of the study, 98 patients had remained in group 1, and 100 patients had remained in group 2. Mean term of observation had been 10.3 +/- 0.8 years in group 1, and 10.1 +/- 0.9 years in group 2. Clinico-anamnestic analysis revealed the following peculiarities of the course of AH complicated by ICS: a longer AH course before the development of ICS; faster deterioration of AH in a period of 10 years; faster deterioration of chronic cardiac insufficiency and discirculatory encephalopathy; more frequent combination with coronary heart disease and carbohydrate exchange; more frequent development of transitory ischemic attacks (TIA); TIA became more frequent before the development of ICS; in 70% of group 1 patients TIA was located in the place of a future ICS. The authors suggest that slowly and quickly progressing AH forms should be differentiated according to the progression of the risk of cardiovascular complications.