Non-neurological variables and mortality of acute stroke.

Acute stroke is associated with high mortality. While this is the direct consequence of the neurological injury, stroke patients develop a number of physiological abnormalities and complications in the acute phase. Extensive research has produced a plethora of information about these non-neurological variables. Different patients have different abnormalities. Some of these variables have severe adverse effects on mortality, both acute and long term. Some of the variables are pre-existing, while others are non-modifiable. The body responds to cerebral tissue injury in a way that seems to lead to further damage to the brain and other vital systems, and patients usually have more than one variable needing attention. Acute stroke presents as a multisystem disease on the verge of multisystem failure. Although there is lack of evidence of the benefits of correcting the deranged variables, it makes clinical sense that non-neurological variables should be identified, monitored and managed, with the aim of improving the outcome of acute stroke patients.