STROKE IN SAUDI-ARABIAN YOUNG-ADULTS - A STUDY OF 120 CASES

One hundred and twenty cases of stroke occurring in Saudi Arabian subj ects aged 15 to 45 years are reviewed. These constituted 12.7% of a gr oup of 946 stroke patients. Males outnumbered females (76/44). The fre quency of intracranial hemorrhage, including subarachnoid hemorrhage, was slightly lower than cerebral infarction (41.5 vs 58.5%). The cause s of large cerebral infarction were as follows: atherosclerosis 17 (28 %), cardiac embolism 12 (19.5%), uncommon and uncertain causes 21 (34. 5%). Some unusual causes were encountered such as dissecting arterial aneurysm due to popular healing manoeuvres or to traditional dance, re trograde embolism from a thoracic outlet syndrome or embolism from a f ibroelastoma of the mitral valve chorda. Lacunar cerebral infarction w as diagnosed in nine cases. Hypertension (25.5%) and arteriovenous mal formations (20.5%) were the main causes of cerebral hemorrhage; all su barachnoid hemorrhages except one were due to berry aneurysms. The cau se was undetermined in 16% of cerebral infarction and 26% of intracran ial hemorrhage. The high frequency of stroke in young Saudi Arabian ad ults is probably a reflection of the demographic structure of the pred ominantly young Saudi society. The observed causes were relatively sim ilar to those in industrial societies. Contrary to other developing co untries infectious disease no longer seems to be an important cause of stroke. Drug abuse, which is becoming an important cause in Western s ocieties, was encountered in only two of our cases.