LAUSR

BACKGROUND Ischemic stroke accounts for around 87% of all strokes worldwide and is the second leading cause of mortality and a significant factor of disability in adults. The objective of this study was to assess the adherence to international treatment guidelines of ischemic stroke in Lebanese hospitals and evaluate factors associated with in-hospital mortality. METHODS This retrospective observational study was conducted in three Lebanese hospitals between January 2018 and December 2019. All adult patients diagnosed with ischemic stroke and who were subsequently admitted and treated in the internal medicine department, intensive care unit, or coronary care units were included in the study. RESULTS Out of 292 patients with stroke, 56.8 % were females with hypertension being the most common previous disease (38.4%). Concerning the acute management, 94.5% had an early brain imaging performed upon hospital presentation, 14.4% eligible for emergency reperfusion, 2.1% prescribed fibrinolytic therapy, 50% adherent with acute hypertension treatment, and 6.2% adherent with the antiplatelet regimen recommendation. The results highlight that right sided hemiparesis, decreased level of consciousness, and hyperthermia (T > 38°C) were significantly associated with in-hospital death. Guidelines in-adherence for the all the acute treatment measures and management strategies was 90.2 %. CONCLUSIONS The study highlights that guideline recommendations was not uniformly applied among all patients, and that recommendation standards set by the guidelines were not applied among all hospitals.