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Background: Only a restricted number of population studies based on long-term prognosis after a stroke have been published. We analyzed long-term survival and outcome in insular first-ever stroke population from the Aeolian Archipelago., Subjects and Methods: From 1 July, 1999 to 30 June 2002, 62 patients with first-ever stroke were recruited to evaluate short-term incidence and outcome. Information for every patient was collected by phone interviews after 3 months, 1 year, and 4 years., Results: 30 days case fatality rate was 24.2% (95% C.I. 14.22 to 36.75). Fifty-one percent (95% C.I. 35.8 to 66.3) of patients died before last survey and 39.1% died during the first year of follow-up. Annual approximate death risk amounted to about 10%. The cerebrovascular causes were the most frequent causes of death (65.2%). A high level of invalidity at 4 years was present in many survivors (40%). None of the deceased had followed physio-kinesitherapy, or applied for equipment or services., Conclusion: More attentive medical care for stroke patients could help improve outcome, reducing mortality for patients from the Aeolian island, who already showed a low incidence.

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence and define the clinical characteristics of epileptic disorders in the 13,431 residents of the Sicilian Aeolian archipelago, on June 1, 1999., Methods: All established or suspected cases were identified by the neurologists of our working group from available medical information sources. Possible epilepsy cases were then evaluated by the epileptologists by using a standardized questionnaire. The patients were further reviewed by the whole research team to confirm the clinical diagnosis. For a more detailed syndromic definition, some patients underwent EEG or neuroradiologic investigations or both., Results: The crude point prevalence rate of active epilepsy was 3.13 (95% confidence interval, 2.2-4.2). The prevalence rate age-adjusted to the 2001 Italian population was 3.01. Females had a slightly higher prevalence rate than did males. The highest age-specific prevalence was found in patients aged 5 to 14 years (5.05) and in those aged 65 to 74 years (5.41). Partial seizures with or without secondary generalization were more common (61.7%) than were generalized seizures. Eighty-three percent of cases had symptomatic or cryptogenic localization-related epilepsies, and 8.5% had idiopathic (generalized or partial) epilepsies. Epilepsy was unclassified in 8.5% of cases., Conclusions: The prevalence of active epilepsy in the Aeolian islands is lower than that in other developed areas, including northern Italy, but is similar to that in Sicily. Partial seizures were the most common type, and localization-related symptomatic epilepsies were the largest syndromic category.