Risk factors and causes of stroke in young women in Israel.

Objective: to identify risk factors and likely causes for stroke in young women, as a basis for designing a strategy for stroke incidence reduction.

Design: retrospective chart review for comparisons between the sexes.

Setting: general and rehabilitation hospitals.

Patients: all 263 patients aged 17-45 years with stroke over a 15-year period.

Exclusions: patients seen at 14 general hospitals who were not referred to the Loewenstein.

Assessments: data on sociodemographic, anamnestic, and clinical aspects.

Results: stroke under the age of 30 years was more frequent in women, and in them the risk factors differed from those in an older population. The most frequent cause of stroke in the younger women was embolism, in the majority on the basis of a rheumatic valvular defect, whereas in young men the usual cause was atherosclerosis.

Conclusions: opportunities for preventive initiatives have not always been grasped, and more attention should be directed to such possibilities.