Before M.A.S.T.-I: analysis of the population of a participating center.

Between 1 January 1989 and 31 December 1990 568 consecutive patients were admitted to our unit for ischemic stroke (defined on clinical criteria and with CT or MR evidence of ischemic areas or exclusion of hemorrhage or tumor). The interval between onset of symptoms and arrival in hospital was under 6 h in 270 cases (47.5%). We classified our population according to the clinical criteria proposed by Bamford et al. by subgroup as follows: LACI (27.5%); PACI (24.5%); TACI (30.6%); POCI (17.4%). The mortality in our population was 10.9%. The distribution of the risk factors considered was: hypertension in 387 cases (67%), diabetes in 158 cases (27.8%), NVAF in 95 cases (16.7%). Our data show that about a half of all patients with ischemic stroke can expect to receive treatment at the acute stage.