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Stroke in sports: a case series

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Abstract

Regular physical activity decreases vascular risk. However, vascular events, including stroke, can occur while practicing physical activities. Stroke associated with sports is a rare clinical entity, whose risk factors and mechanisms are not fully understood. We report a case series of sports-related stroke, from tertiary care institutions. From the stroke registries of two University Neurology services and Stroke Units we retrieved all cases of stroke which occurred in temporal association with the practice of sports. Investigators had to fill a simple case report form, describing the demographic, clinical characteristics of the patients and the sport associated with the stroke. We included ten patients aged between 27 and 65 years, 8 being male. Only three subjects had vascular risk factors. Trauma to the head and/or neck was reported in two patients only. Cervicocerebral arterial dissection was the main cause of stroke, occurring in six of the ten cases. No patient died, but three were left disabled (modified Rankin Scale 3–5). This case series confirms that stroke associated with sport is very rare. The majority of the victims did not have vascular risk factors. Dissection was the most common cause of sport-associated stroke. Strokes were often disabling.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Serviço de Neurologia, Department of Neurosciences, Hospital de Santa Maria, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Gonçalo M. Alexandrino, Patrícia Canhão, Ruth Geraldes, Teresa P. Melo & José M. Ferro

  2. Serviço de Neurologia, Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Hospital de Santo António, Oporto, Portugal

    Joana Damásio & Carlos Correia

Authors
  1. Gonçalo M. Alexandrino
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  2. Joana Damásio
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  3. Patrícia Canhão
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  4. Ruth Geraldes
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  5. Teresa P. Melo
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  6. Carlos Correia
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  7. José M. Ferro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to José M. Ferro.

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Alexandrino, G.M., Damásio, J., Canhão, P. et al. Stroke in sports: a case series. J Neurol 261, 1570–1574 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-014-7383-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-014-7383-y

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