Variables affecting short-term prognosis in completed stroke.

After a review of the prognostic factors affecting the short-term outcome of completed stroke, the implications for the design of stroke treatment trials are discussed. These concern stratification variables, patient selection, sample size estimation, length of follow-up, and measures of outcome. Potential variables for stratification are type of stroke (i.e. infarct or hemorrhage), age of the patient, level of consciousness, and preceding hypertension and heart disease.