neurologic disorders
Overview of Stroke
Prognosis for Stroke
The sooner a stroke is treated, the less severe brain damage is likely to be and the better the chances for recovery. Certain factors suggest a poor outcome. Strokes that impair consciousness or that affect a large part of the left side of the brain may be particularly grave. Usually, the more quickly patients improve during the days after stroke, the more they will ultimately improve. Improvement commonly continues for 6 to 12 months after the stroke. In adults who have had an ischemic stroke, problems that remain after 12 months are likely to be permanent, but children continue to improve slowly for many months. Older people fare less well than younger people. For people who already have other serious disorders (eg, dementia), recovery is more limited. Of all the different causes of strokes, lacunar strokes have the best prognosis. If a hemorrhagic stroke is not massive and intracranial hypertension is absent the outcome is likely to be better than that after an ischemic stroke with similar symptoms. Blood (in a hemorrhagic stroke) does not damage brain tissue as much as ischemia does. 