ABSTRACT
Introduction Stroke is the most common admission diagnosis in patients with acute neurological disorders. In 1999, stroke killed 167, 366 people, every 53 seconds someone suffers a stroke, and it causes one out of every 14.3 deaths in the US. About 4,600,000 stroke survivors are alive today, but there is a high degree of recurrence and long-term disability in 30% of cases. The chance of having a stroke before the age of 70 years is 1 in 20 for both genders. The annual incidence rate has declined for total stroke.1
