Frequency of smoking in subgroups of ischemic stroke and relation between smoking and various complications of ischemic stroke

Aim To find out the frequency of smoking in subgroups of ischemic stroke and to search for relation between smoking and asymptomatic ischemic lesions (AILs) in cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), recurrence of ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic transformation, seizure, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction and deep vein thrombosis. Methods The stroke database of the Neurology Clinic in Istanbul Faculty of Medicine were retrospectively screened and patients with ischemic stroke admitted between 1995-2014 were included in this study. Results There were 3615 patients. The lowest frequency of smoking was found in patients with cardioembolism (348/1160, 30%) (p