NON‐NEUROLOGICAL VARIABLES AND MORTALITY OF ACUTE STROKE

Abstract

SUMMARYAcute stroke is associated with high mortality. While this is the direct consequence of the neurological injury, stroke patients develop a number of physiological abnormalities and complications in the acute phase. Extensive research has produced a plethora of information about these non‐neurological variables. Different patients have different abnormalities. Some of these variables have severe adverse effects on mortality, both acute and long term. Some of the variables are pre‐existing, while others are non‐modifiable. The body responds to cerebral tissue injury in a way that seems to lead to further damage to the brain and other vital systems, and patients usually have more than one variable needing attention. Acute stroke presents as a multisystem disease on the verge of multisystem failure. Although there is lack of evidence of the benefits of correcting the deranged variables, it makes clinical sense that non‐neurological variables should be identified, monitored and managed, with the aim of improving the outcome of acute stroke patients.