Long-term prognosis for cerebral infarction in relation to brain circulation--a 7-year follow up study.

Seventy-seven patients with cerebral infarction have been re-examined every year and followed for 7 years. Thirty-one patients had normal cranial blood flow (BF) and the remaining 46 had subnormal cranial BF, determined by the intravenous RISA method at the time of the original attack. During a 7-year follow up, 7 patients (22.6%) of the normal cranial BF group died; 3 of stroke and the remaining 4 from other causes, while 24 patients (52.2%) of the subnormal cranial BF group died; 13 of stroke and the remaining 11 of various diseases. The cumulative survival rate was consistently lower in the subnormal cranial BF group than the normal one. This difference reached statistical significance at 5 and 7 years of follow up. However, stroke recurrence did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. This suggests that a decreased cranial BF is an indicator of a poor long-term prognosis.