International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | October-December 2014 | Vol 2 | Issue 4 Page 1355 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Kapoor D et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2014 Nov;2(4):1355-1359 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Research Article Clinical profile, risk factors and aetiology of young stroke: a tertiary care hospital based study from the Sub-Himalayan region in North India Dhiraj Kapoor*, Ashish Dhiman, Rupinder Sharma, Shyam Sundar INTRODUCTION Stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Urbanization is predicted to increase the risk factors for vascular disease and hence lead to a sharp increase in stroke. Ability to forecast stroke is critical but has been challenging, making the detailed study of predisposing factors essential. Prevention still holds the key to reduce the impact of stroke. For planning prevention strategies, reliable information on profile of diseases, in defined populations, is necessary. Younger patients with stroke account for 5-10% of all the stroke worldwide. The impact of stroke on the individual family and society is strongest when it affects a young individual. Himachal Pradesh is situated in the north-west of India in Sub-Himalayan region. The only data available about stroke in young is from Kashmir by Kaul et al. 1 undertaken in 1989 which was a community based study. ABSTRACT Background: Rapid urbanisation of rural areas is predicted to increase the incidence of risk factors for vascular events like stroke. There is scarcity of literature addressing issue of stroke from Sub-Himalayan region in North India. Methods: The study was conducted in the department of medicine, R. P. govt. medical college, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. Consecutive patients between the age of 15-45 years presenting with signs and symptoms of stroke in a duration of one year were included in the study. CT scan-head and lipid profile was done in all patients. Other relevant investigations to rule out aetiology were undertaken. Results: Thirty two patients with the mean age of 41.1 ± 5.41 years were recruited. The incidence of stroke in young forming 8.55% of the total stroke patients (374). There were larger proportion of male patients with a ratio of 3:1.16 patients (50%) presented between 6 am and 12 pm in the morning hours of day. Maximum patients presented in winter months from November to January. Average delay of presentation to hospital was 30.8 hours. 19 patients (59.3%) presented with infarct. Most common symptom reported was weakness in 18 (56.2%). Predominant traditional risk factors observed was hypertension in 18 (53.1%). Hyperhomocysteinemia was seen in 4 patients (12.5%). Primary antiphospholipid antibody syndrome was seen in 2 (6.25%). Conclusion: This study demonstrated predominant presence of conventional risk factors in young strokes. There was substantial time delay of presentation. Majority of patients presented in winter months. Prevention of vascular risk factors as well as issue of factors leading to delay in presentation needs to be addressed. Keywords: Young stroke, Sub-Himalayan, Risk factors Department of Medicine, R. P. Govt. Medical College, Tanda, Kangra-176001, H.P., India Received: 20 July 2014 Accepted: 10 August 2014 *Correspondence: Dr. Dhiraj Kapoor, E-mail: kapoordhiraj65@rediffmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: 10.5455/2320-6012.ijrms20141121