Stroke risk factors, subtypes, and 30-day case fatality in Abuja, Nigeria (original) (raw)

2013, Nigerian Medical Journal

acute stroke care, the extent of laboratory investigations, and the prediction of likely outcomes. Unfortunately, most studies on stroke in Nigeria involve little or no imaging protocols, 3-8 largely because most health centers lack facilities for computerized tomography (CT) scanning, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and carotid Doppler ultrasound scanning. Often, where those facilities are available, they are unaffordable. 4,7 In two studies from Southwest Nigeria, 4,6 only 2 of 101 and none of 708 patients with suspected stroke had brain CT scans. In other studies from Northwest 7 and central 8 Nigeria, brain scans were obtained in only 6 of 81 and none of 76 patients. One study 9 did not describe imaging findings altogether, and it is unclear whether patients had had brain scans. Owing to these limitations, most studies rely on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria and