[Management of stroke in France. Results of 3 national surveys].

Three surveys were performed in France, in March 1999, to analyze the management of acute stroke patients. Three hundred forty five Emergency departments, 93 departments of Neurology and 258 Rehabilitation units participated. Fifty per cent of patients with stroke arrive at the emergency department within 3 hours of symptom onset. Only 40 p. cent of the patients are admitted in a neurological department and 5 p. cent in an acute stroke unit. The mean length of acute hospital stay is often very long (more than three weeks) because of the delay to transfer to a rehabilitation unit. This study shows that acute stroke management is herogeneous and not structured in France.