[Medical care to cerebrovascular syndrome].
We analyzed clinical data from all patients with a stroke admitted to the Emergency Service of a General Hospital in Santiago, from 1984 to 1986. 371 patients (196 women and 175 men) were diagnosed as having thrombosis (43%), embolic occlusion (18%), intracerebral hemorrhage (36%) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (3%). CAT scans were performed in 25% and angiography in 16%. The diagnosis was considered proven in 40% of cases. Overall hospital mortality was 46%, raising to 66% for hemorrhages. Prevention of cerebral edema was the main medical treatment. The present data suggest that primary prevention of and technological facilities to treat cerebrovascular episodes are inadequate at a general hospital level in Santiago.