Abstract

PARRA-VALENCIA, Esteban et al. FINAL DIAGNOSIS OF PATIENTS WITH SUSPECT OF RULED OUT STROKE. EXPERIENCE OF THE HOSPITAL OF CHILLÁN, CHILE. Rev Cient Cienc Méd [online]. 2017, vol.20, n.2, pp.26-32. ISSN 2077-3323.

INTRODUCTION: Stroke is an acute neurological lesion with two classic subtypes (ischemic and hemorrhagic), being an important public health problem in Chile. There are pathologies that mimic its presentation, however, a clinical history and oriented physical examination allow to discriminate in a high number of cases between these pathologies avoiding the referral to specialist and request of imaging examinations, thus reducing, the costs derived in a large number of patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Cross-sectional study from the clinical records of patients admitted with suspected stroke during February and March of 2016 at Herminda Martin Clinic Hospital from Chile for diagnostic confirmation by the Neurology Service. RESULTS: A total of 304 clinical files were obtained with suspected stroke, of which 26,9% did not correspond to stroke. Of these, 45,9% were pathologies of non-neurological specialties, the most frequent being those derived from internal medicine. DISCUSSION: Stroke is a neurological entity classically described based on the location of the vascular lesion. Although its semiologic presentation is known, there are many pathologies that are clinically similar, or the unique characteristics of the patients make the clinical pattern confusing. This phenomenon is reflected in a relatively similar false stroke rate among different health centers. The error rate in diagnosis of stroke of this study is 26,9%, similar to other experiences. It appears that there is a basal number of false stroke, whose clinical margin of error is difficult to reduce even with good scales and standardized care protocols.

Keywords : Stroke; emergency services; neurology; Chile.

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