Stroke in a French prospective population study.

Since 1985 there has been a Stroke Registry in Dijon to record every stroke occurring in the population of a city of 140,000 inhabitants. The survey has been exhaustive and included the numerous sources of information as well as CT scanning. The annual incidence is 145/100,000 with an annual specific incidence of 170/100,000 in men, 126/100,000 in women. The annual specific incidence shows a female preponderance until 30 years of age, after which the males lead from the age of 30 to 80, when the rates become equal. Sixty-eight percent of strokes produced by infarct, 12% by lacunae, 5% by subarachnoid hemorrhage and 15% by cerebral hemorrhage. Differences exist in this distribution, with the preponderance of young people in subarachnoid hemorrhage, and cerebral hemorrhage is commoner in the 5th decade while infarct increases with age in both sexes. Infarct appears commoner during winter, transient ischemic attacks during summer, while cerebral hemorrhage has a constant incidence during the year. Mortality is high mainly during the 1st month with 12.5% during the 1st week, 21.5% the 1st month and 30% the 1st year. Our results are in the mean similar to white occidental countries, but opposite to those observed in Japan; they emphasize the importance of the lacunar syndrome, and the seasonal variations in different types of stroke.