Abstract

HIDALGO MESA, Carlos Jorge et al. Cerebral infarct: Complications and causes of death. Rev Cub Med Mil [online]. 2005, vol.34, n.1, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-3046.

The cerebrovacular disease is one of the main causes of death in Cuba and in the world, and its sequelae also cause disability. A high index of years of potential life lost is attributed to it. A retrospective and descriptive study was conducted from January, 1996 to December, 2000, among the patients that were discharged with diagnosis of cerebral infarct (alive or dead) from Comandante Manuel Fajardo Rivero Military Hospital, in Santa Clara. The medical histories and necropsy protocols of 165 discharged patients were reviewed. The neurological and non-neurolgoical complications that appeared during hospitalization and the death causes in the case of the dead, were evaluated. Cerebral edema and coma predominated in the neurological complications, specially among the dead. Bronchopneumonia and hydroelectrolytic unbalances were the main non-neurological complications, whereas respiratory sepsis and pulmonary thromboembolism were the first causes of death.

Keywords : Cerebral infarct; complications; death causes.