[Cerebral vascular disorders and arterial hypertension: cardiologic and neurologic aspects].

Objective: To report and discuss some cardiologic, neurologic and radiologic aspects in different types of stroke (AVC) present in hypertensive patients.

Design: Retrospective study in patients with acute cerebrovascular accident (AVC) and high blood pressure (HTA). Separate this population in three groups according to the results of computerized tomography scanning of the brain (TAC): hemorrhage (H) cerebral infarction (IC) and lacune (L). In each group describe the findings.

Setting: Department of Internal Medicine in a University Hospital of Lisbon.

Patients: Thirty-four patients, after having discarded 8 because their TAC were normal. Twenty were men (M), 14 women (F) with a total age average of 58 years.

Measurements And Main Results: All patients had AVC, HTA and underwent initial TAC. For each group were considered: Past history, cardiac repercussions of HTA, neurologic features and the localisations of cerebral lesions. For statistical study were used the Student T Test. There was 45% of IC, 24% of H and 26% of L. In past history was found 35% of cardiac diseases and 24% of diabetes. There wasn't any difference in blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) between the groups. Fifty-six percent had an important cardiac repercussion, with 72% of alterations of ventricular repolarization and 35% of coronary heart diseases. Both were more prevalent in IC than in the others. Twenty percent of H were in physical activity, 20% had a progressive start and in 10% there were meningeal signals. The site of cerebral lesions were characteristical, specially the H and L and 60% of H were thalamic. There wasn't any lacune neither in the cerebral stem nor in the cerebellum. It was reviewed some theoric aspects of neurologic feature.

Conclusions: IC is the more frequent AVC in hypertensive patients. The cardiac involvement, is the most frequent disease in past history. The cardiac repercussion of HTA is more important in IC. The findings were insufficient to well characterize the neurologic feature. Sometime TAC and seldom magnetic resonance are necessary. The localisations, specially of H and L are the same that have been described in medical literature.