Cerebral thrombosis in patients under fifty years of age.

Abstract

The natural history of cerebrovascular disease has until recently been largely unexplored. The dearth of therapeutic possibilities together with the difficulties inherent in investigating this problem doubtless contributed to this indifference. With the advent of multiple therapeutic approaches, however, knowledge of the usual course of cerebral vascular disease has become essential to the rational selection and the critical evaluation of therapy. Previous studies 1-3 have demonstrated cerebral thrombosis to be no great rarity in younger age groups, but the natural history of the disorder remains unclear. Since younger subjects might logically be the ones to whom most therapeutic diligence should be directed, it was decided to investigate the clinical course of patients who had cerebral thrombosis prior to the age of 50. Methods Records were evaluated for all patients under 50 years of age admitted to The New York Hospital between 1932 and 1959 with diagnoses of cerebral vascular disease,