Table 1.

Patient characteristics

Patient	Age (years)	Sex	Affected hand	Site of lesion	Time to scan	Initial severity*	Previous medical history	Medication
1	50	M	L	R IC	13 weeks	3	NIDDM	Aspirin, simvastatin, gliclazide, metformin
2	56	M	L	R IC	29 weeks	4+	Nil	Aspirin
3	39	M	L	R posterior MCA haemorrhagic infarct	6 years	0	Epilepsy	Sodium valproate
4	69	M	L	R MCA	3 years	0	Hyperthyroidism (treated)	Aspirin, thyroxine
5	49	M	L	R MCA	18 weeks	0	Hypertension	Aspirin, losartan, bendrofluazide
6	29	F	R	L MCA	13 weeks	2(1)	Nil	Aspirin
7	58	M	L	R IC	25 weeks	2	Hypertension	Aspirin, bendrofluazide
8	63	M	L	R IC	21 weeks	4+ (4)	Hypertension	Aspirin, atenolol, amlodipine, simvastatin
9	71	M	R	L pons	28 weeks	2	IHD, COPD	Aspirin, glyceryl trinitrate spray
10	52	M	R	L IC	27 weeks	4+	Hypertension	Aspirin, atenolol, ramipril
11	72	M	L	L IC	3 years	1	Mild asthma	Aspirin
12	72	F	L	R IC	15 weeks	1	Hypertension,	Aspirin, bendrofluazide, atorvastatin
13	50	M	R	L thalamic haemorrhage	27 weeks	0	Hypertension, gout	Atenolol, lisinopril, allopurinol, omeprazole
14	60	M	L	R IC	14 weeks	4+	Hypertension	Aspirin, bendrofluazide
15	29	M	R	L pons	36 weeks	0	Nil	Aspirin, fluoxetine
16	46	M	L	R MCA	27 weeks	0	Hypertension	Aspirin, amlodipine, atenolol, atorvastatin
17	61	M	L	R pons	14 weeks	2 (0)	Hypertension	Aspirin, atenolol
18	28	F	L	R MCA	4 years	0	Nil	Aspirin
19	38	M	L	R MCA	35 weeks	0	Nil	Aspirin
20	71	M	R	L pons	20 weeks	0	Hypertension	Aspirin, atenolol

Initial severity refers to the MRC grade for wrist extension (and finger extension in brackets if different) as recorded in the medical records at the time of stroke. M = male; F = female; R = right; L = left; IC = internal capsule; NIDDM = non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; IHD = ischaemic heart disease; COPD = chronic obstructive airways disease.