CEREBRAL INFARCTION IS PATIENTS AGED 15 TO 40 YEARS

Background and Purpose Cerebral infarction among young adults has been little studied in Brazil. Most studies adopt a variable upper age lim it and often use the term ''young'' to designate different age ranges. The objective of the present study was to determine possible differen ces in etiology of cerebral infarction in specific age subpopulations. Methods We studied 106 patients aged 15 to 40 years and divided them into two subpopulations by age at time of ictus (ie, 15 to 29 years an d 30 to 40 years). On the basis of Trial of ARG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) criteria, we classified the patients into the follow ing five groups: (1) large-artery atherosclerosis, (2) small-vessel oc clusion or lacunae, (3) cardioembolism, (4) other determined causes, a nd (5) undetermined causes, The proportions for each group were compar ed between the two age ranges to determine whether there was a signifi cant difference in group distribution. Results The proportions were di fferent between the two age ranges, with a predominance of women and T OAST-criterion group 4 in the 15- to 29-year age range. In the 30- to 40-year age range, there was a predominance of men and of TOAST-criter ion group 3. Conclusions The proportions of the groups in the two age ranges were significantly different for lacunar infarctions and infarc tions of other etiologies. This observation suggests that different ag e ranges present characteristically different distributions and theref ore should be considered separately when investigated. The older age r ange already presents features that suggest a transition to the spectr um observed among the aged.