The majority of stroke patients will survive the acute episode; some will recover to their pe-stroke levels of functioning; and others will be disabled to some degree. Complications following stroke may result from the insult itself or be related to diagnostic or therapeutic methods used in stroke management. Complications may prolong a patient's hospital stay and affect his ultimate outcome. Data from the Stroke Data Bank, prospective, multicentered, study of hospitalized stroke patients, will be used to profile the complications-prone patient. Socio-demographic and clinical data, including age, sex, location and type of stroke, severity and type of initial deficit(s) will be compared with occurrence of complications such as seizures, visceral bleeding and stroke recurrence to characterize those patients who experience complications, as well as to contrast their course with a similar group of stroke patients who differ in that they do not have complications. The clinical course of those patients with complications is being studied in order to determine the impact of complications on outcome. Data collection began in June 1983, and as of May 1985, over 1,300 cases were enrolled. Data analysis will take place in FY '86.
