Background: Young ischemic stroke is no more a rarity now, with an anticipated increase in prevalence by 2050. Purpose: Overview of risk factors, classification and clinical outcome of young stroke (18-45 years) in a tertiary care hospital in India. Methodology: Prospective collection of data from the stroke registry between June 2014 to June 2017 fulfilling the study criteria. Detailed proforma - history, clinical examination and investigations (complete hemogram, blood sugar, serum electrolytes, chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, CT or MRI brain with angiogram and ANA profile, APLA, fasting serum homocysteine, HIV Elisa, VDRL) were taken. Selective investigations like 24 hours Holter and Prothrombotic work-up were chosen accordingly. “Trial of Org 10172 of Acute Stroke Treatment”(TOAST) criteria are used for sub-classification. National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) at baseline and mRS scores at baseline and after three months were calculated. Results: 186 (out of 223 young strokes) (82.34%) were taken for analysis constituting 7% of total stroke population. Data were statistically analysed by statistical software package. Differences in quantitative and categorical variables between groups were made using unpaired t-test and chi-square tests respectively. ANOVA was used to assess the variables. A p value of <0.05 using a two-tailed test was taken significance for all statistical analyses. Conclusions: Evaluation of young stroke is always a diagnostic challenge. Sequential workup for young stroke must be optimized in all health care centers to reduce the morbidity and mortality. In spite of the extensive workup, 23.7% are known to be cryptogenic in this study.

RISK FACTORS, ETIOLOGY AND CLINICAL OUTCOME OF STROKE IN YOUNG ADULTS (18-45 YEARS) ADMITTED IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN INDIA