[Cerebrovascular accidents. Complete tardive regressive course]

Abstract

In a consecutive series of 1018 cases of focal cerebro-vascular disease there were 42 cases of stroke followed by a full recovery after a variable time interval from 4 to 60 days. Some clinical features deserve mention: the vascular district involved was chiefly the carotid area; the onset was gradual in many cases; the impairment of consciousness was unusual; motor impairment was in many cases limited to one limb; the EEG and brain scan showed abnormalities in few cases with subsequent recovery; the angiographie examination showed occlusion of the sylvian artery in one case, severe stenosis of the internal carotid artery in one case, absence of visualisation of the terminal branches of the sylvian artery in 12 cases; the follow-up (mean duration years 4,25,SD +/- 2.09) showed a favourable course since subsequent stroke appeared in a minority of cases. The term "stroke with full recovery" and the problem of the sensitivity of the brain to oxygen deficiency is discussed.