Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery 109 (2007) 770–773 Risk factors of young ischemic stroke in Qatar Fahmi Yousef Khan ∗ Department of Medicine, Hamad General Hospital, P.O. Box 3050, Doha, Qatar Received 20 March 2007; received in revised form 10 July 2007; accepted 13 July 2007 Abstract Objectives: There is limited information about risk factors of young ischemic stroke in Qatar. The aim of this study was to describe the risk factors and subtypes of young ischemic stroke among Qatari and non-Qatari residents. Patients and methods: Hospital based prospective observational study involving all young adults (15–45 years of age) admitted to Hamad General Hospital with first-ever ischemic stroke from September 2004 to September 2005. A stroke was defined according to WHO criteria. Results: Stroke was confirmed in 40 (32 males and 8 females). Their ages ranged from 17 to 44 years (mean 37.1 ± 13.27). Thirty (75%) of the patients were non-Qatari. The most common risk factors were hypertension 16 (40%), diabetes mellitus 13 (32.5%), hypercholesterolemia 11 (27.5%), smoking 11 (27.5%), and alcohol intake 9 (22.5%). Regarding stroke subtypes, lacunar stroke syndrome (LACS) was diagnosed in 17 (42.5%), total anterior circulation stroke syndrome (TACS) in 16 (40%), partial anterior circulation stroke syndrome (PACS) in 5 (12.5%) and posterior circulation stroke syndrome (POCS) in 2 (5%). Partial anterior circulation stroke syndrome (PACS) was observed with a higher frequency in Qatari patients compared with non-Qataris (p = 0.009), whereas total anterior circulation stroke syndrome (TACS) was observed more in non-Qatari than in Qatari patients (p = 0.03). Average hospital stay was 18 days. In-hospital mortality was 2.5%. Conclusion: The risk factors of ischemic stroke in young adults are numerous. The most common were hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, smoking and alcohol intake. Only one Indonesian male patient with POCS died in the hospital. © 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V. Keywords: Risk factors; Stroke subtype; Young ischemic stroke 1. Introduction Stroke in young adults causes morbidity in this socioe- conomically active age group. Risk factors frequency of ischemic stroke in young adults differs around the world. Ischemic strokes occurring in patients younger than 45 years old have been considered a relatively rare event, being less than 5% of all cerebral infarctions [1]. When it occurs in young persons, they may have a longer period of time to live with their disability, and this may contribute to a lifetime of medical complications. Moreover, lost productivity of a young working person may account for costs associated with stroke exceeding the costs of stroke in an older person. This study was conducted to describe the risk factors and stroke subtype of young ischemic stroke in Qatar and to com- pare the results with those of previous reports in the region. ∗ Tel.: +974 5275989; fax: +974 4879228. E-mail address: fakhanqal@yahoo.co.uk. To my knowledge, this is the first prospective hospital- based report on risk factors, stroke subtypes and short-term functional outcome of cerebral infarction in young adults in Qatar. 2. Materials and methods This prospective observational hospital-based study was conducted at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), State of Qatar, which is a small country with an area of 11,427 km 2 extending into the Persian Gulf from the eastern coast of Arabian Peninsula and has an estimated population size of 7,24,125 according to 2003 census and is densely populated at the capital city of Doha. No official data are available, but it is estimated that the expatriate population constitutes about 60% of the total population. HMC serves as a tertiary referral center with many hospitals, covering all medical and surgical disciplines including six intensive care units and one rehabil- 0303-8467/$ – see front matter © 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.clineuro.2007.07.006