Abstract :
Purpose: Lacunar ischemic strokes comprise approximately 25% of all ischemic strokes. We compared the risk factors and clinical pattern of this type of stroke between males and females. Materials and Methods: This observational study involved 50 consecutive patients with their first-ever lacunar stroke and was conducted at the department of neurology of Sulaimaniya general teaching hospital, Iraq from December 1, 2010 to March 1, 2013. Patients’ risk factors, clinical presentation, and strokes’ patterns were noted and a comparison was made between males and females. Results: Males (64%) outnumbered females (36%) with a male to female ration of 1.7. The mean age of males was 63 years while it was 61 years in females. Although hypertension was more common in females than in males, diabetes and smoking were more common in the latter group; however, there were no statistically significant differences between the 2 genders in terms of hypertension and diabetes while smoking was strongly associated with male gender (P-value 0.0001). Pure motor hemiparesis, ataxic hemiparesis, pure sensory stroke, and dysarthria-clumsy hand syndrome were more common in males; only senori-motor stroke revealed a statistically significant difference in favor of males (P-value 0.0001; 95% CI -1.7 to 19.2). There was no statistically significant difference in terms of which side of the brain was infarcted between males and females. Conclusion: Males around the age of 63 years were the main target for these lacunar strokes. Cigarette smoking and sensorimotor strokes were significantly associated with male gender.
NaturalLanguageKeyword :
Lacunar infarction , stroke , lipohyalinosis , hypertension
