YOGYAKARTA – Stroke is a neurologic emergency. From year to year, its morbidity has increased along with the increasing economic status of society as well as the epidemiological and demographical transition. From the epidemiologic data in Indonesia it is known that in several hospitals in Jakarta and other cities in Indonesia, approximately 50% of all hospitalized patients in the neurological diseases wards are stroke patients and approximately 5 percent of them died of a stroke.
Reportedly, the morbidity rates based on the pathological types of stroke in Dr. Sardjito hospital are 70% for acute ischemic stroke and 30% for hemorrhagic stroke. "In Dr. Sardjito Hospital, the number of deaths in ischemic stroke reached up to 9.3% and 14.4% for haemorrhagic stroke," said Head of Stroke Unit of Dr. Sardjito, Hospital, dr. Ismail Setyopranoto, Sp.S (K), in the 2011 Clinical Update Seminar and Symposium in the auditorium of the UGM Faculty of Medicine on Saturday (15/1).
The staff of Neurology Section added that a stroke with an acute attack can cause death within a short time; it is also a major cause of physical and mental disability in the productive age and old age. "The potential for stroke caused by risk factor such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disease and hypercholesterolemia which are already suffered by the patient," said Setyo.
To avoid a stroke attack, recognition of early signs of stroke symptoms and referral efforts to hospital must be done immediately. According to Setyo, the success of stroke treatment is largely determined by the speed of action in the acute stage, which means the longer the referral effort to the hospital or the longer the time between attacks with the timing of therapy, the worse the prognosis. "Treatment of patients with hemorrhagic stroke should be performed in the ICU if the bleeding volume is more than 30 cc, intraventricular bleeding with hydrocephalus or if the clinical state of patients tend to deteriorate," he explained.
He added that the comprehensive management of acute stroke in a hospital is to minimize the number of damage cells through penumbra tissue repair and prevention of further bleeding in intracerebral hemorrhage.
Ismail Setyopranoto is one of 17 presenters in the seminars and symposium. The event committee, dr. Dite Bayu Nugraha, said the seminar which was conducted over two days discussed a variety of diseases based on symptoms, including infectious diseases, psychiatry, life threatening problems, chronic diseases, new emerging issues, as well as guidance about breakthroughs in cancer diagnosis and the rational use of drugs. "This theme was chosen with the expectation that the participants, who are mostly general practitioners, can take many benefits because general practitioners are at the forefront of health services in the community," he said.