NEW YORK NEUROLOGICAL SOCIETY AND NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, SECTION ON NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY

Cerebral Embolism: Clinical Course, Prognostic Signs, and Effects of Anticoagulation Ther¬ apy. Dr. Charles E. Wells. The clinical courses of 97 episodes of cerebral embolism occurring in 82 patients have been ana¬ lyzed. Sixty-three episodes occurred in patients who were not given anticoagulants, and 34 epi¬ sodes occurred in patients who were treated with anticoagulants. In the untreated groups 70% of the patients had rheumatic heart disease and 17% had arterio¬ sclerotic or hypertensive cardiovascular disease. Forty-seven per cent were found to be in normal sinus rhythm when examined after the onset of the embolie phenomena. The onset was most fre¬ quent in the morning hours. Headache was a fea¬ ture of onset in 25%, and in half of these it was of high intensity. Seizures occurred at the onset in 12.5%. The laboratory findings were nonspecific. Twenty-five of the episodes ended in death, and 35% resulted in severe permanent neurologic dys¬ function. A further study was made to determine what factors allow prediction of a good or a poor result