Abstract

Stroke is responsible for 52% of vascular deaths in Africa, compared to 38% in Europe. A rigorous and rapid pharmacotherapeutic approach, based on the rational use of drugs, could improve this figure. This work aimed to study the pharmacotherapeutic treatment of strokes in the medical intensive care unit of the Abidjan Cardiology Institute. A retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study carried out on patient records received from 2019 to 2021 was carried out in the said department. The study involved collecting data from stroke patients during the study period. These data concerned their therapeutic management and follow-up during hospitalization. In addition, compliance of the requirements with national and international recommendations was sought. The study population, comprising 56 patients, was predominantly male with a sex ratio of 1.54 and a mean age of 65.2 ± 10.3 years. Diabetes (92%), high blood pressure (90%), senility (61%), and obesity (50%) were the predominant risk factors in the study population. Ischemic stroke accounted for 93% of cases compared to 7% for hemorrhagic stroke. Therapeutic management ranged from one to more than six drugs per prescription and mainly involved antiplatelet agents (54%), antihypertensive drugs (10.4%), normolipemia drugs (10%), and anticoagulants (9.7%) with a satisfactory level of compliance with recommendations. Follow-up of patients showed a favorable outcome of 73% and a low occurrence of complications in 18% of patients in the study. Stroke pharmacotherapy in the medical intensive care unit of the Abidjan Cardiology Institute has shown a satisfactory level of compliance and favorable patient outcomes.

Key words: Pharmacotherapeutic, cerebral vascular accident, cardiovascular disorders.