[Mortality in the acute phase of cerebrovascular disease: the registry of La Alianza-Hospital Central of Barcelona].

Background: Few studies have been performed on mortality from acute cerebrovascular disease (ACVD) during hospital admission, particularly in Spain.
Methods: A prospective clinical analysis was performed in 1,356 consecutive patients with ACVD included in the Registry of Cerebrovascular Disease of the Central La Alianza-Hospital in Barcelona (1986-1992) with the aim of analyzing the causes of mortality during the acute phase of the disease and the time of hospital survival.
Results: The mortality of the series was 16% (13% from cerebral infarction and 29% from cerebral hemorrhage; p < 0.0001). The causes of mortality were not neurologic in 49%, neurologic in 42% and of unknown cause in 9%. The principal causes of death were: transtentorial herniation/compression of the cerebral trunk (TH/CCT) 34%, pneumonia 14%, sepsis 14% and heart disease 11%. TH/CCT was more frequent on hemorrhage than on cerebral infarction (50% vs 27%; p < 0.001) while heart diseases were more frequent in cerebral infarction (14% vs 3%, p < 0.03). TH/CCT was the most common cause of death during the first seven days, with the pneumonia-sepsis-pulmonary thromboembolism being the most common after the third week. On the other hand, heart disease and sudden death showed homogeneous presentation with regard to frequency.
Conclusions: The causes of death during the acute phase of acute cerebrovascular disease are principally non neurologic (49%) being potentially preventable with the most frequent causes of death being from pneumonia, sepsis and pulmonary thromboembolism. Mortality of these patients may be decreased on correct diagnosis and treatment.