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BackgroundGuidelines recommend maintaining the heart rate (HR) of acute stroke patients within physiological limits; data on the frequency and predictors of significant deviations from these limits are scarce.MethodsDemographical data, stroke risk factors, NIH stroke scale score, lesion size and location, and ECG parameters were prospectively assessed in 256 patients with ischemic stroke. Patients were continuously monitored for at least 24 hours on a certified stroke unit. Tachycardia (HR ≥120 bpm) and bradycardia (HR <45 bpm) and cardiac rhythm (sinus rhythm or atrial fibrillation) were documented. We investigated the influence of risk factors on HR disturbances and their respective influence on dependence (modified Rankin Scale ≥ 3 after three months) and mortality.ResultsHR ≥120 bpm occurred in 39 patients (15%). Stroke severity (larger lesion size/higher NIHSS-score on admission), atrial fibrillation and HR on admission predicted its occurrence. HR <45 bpm occurred in 12 patients (5%) and was predicted by lower HR on admission. Neither HR ≥120 nor HR <45 bpm independently predicted poor outcome at three moths. Stroke location had no effect on the occurrence of HR violations. Clinical severity and age remained the only consistent predictors of poor outcome.ConclusionsSignificant tachycardia and bradycardia are frequent phenomena in acute stroke; however they do not independently predict clinical course or outcome. Continuous monitoring allows detecting rhythm disturbances in stroke patients and allows deciding whether urgent medical treatment is necessary.

Magnesium ammonium phosphate and iron-bearing magnesium ammonium phosphate (containing ferrous ammonium phosphate) were made in a pilot-plant, and pellets were prepared trom these products by bonding with 10% by weight of potassium sulphate. These rellets and a range of conventional water-soluble fertilisers were leached on soil columns for 3-6 months .at 23°c, 37°c, and 53°c. and the .leachates were analysed. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium leached slowly oyer long periods from the magnesium ammonium phosphate pellets, and aeration increased the leaching rate; only potassium was leached rapidly. Little iron was leached from iron-bearing pellets. In contrast, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium all leached rapidly from the soluble fertilisers. Magnesium ammonium phosphate therefore supplies essential nutrients to the soil over extended periods. The leaching rate from magnesium ammoni.um phosphat~was at a maximum in the temperature range 2rc-37°c, lind decreased considerably at 53 c. These results suggest that magnesium ammonium phosphate in soil is predominantly leached by an aerobic microbiological mechanism involving nitrification of ammonia. rather than by a solubility mechanism. '

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