Background Although stroke and acute coronary events share several risk factors, few
studies have compared population-level epidemiological surveillance indicators of the two
diseases in the same age range and in the same geographical area. Design The objective
of the present study was to compare the rate of acute coronary events with that of stroke
among inhabitants aged from 35–74 years in Northern France (Lille). Methods All incident
and recurrent acute coronary events and stroke events occurring in men and women over …

In this issue of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology Dominique Cottel and co-
workers1 present a well-conducted register study from the north of France in which they
investigated the prevalence of acute coronary events (ACEs) and of stroke among the
78,000 inhabitants aged 35 to 74 years in the city of Lille. They found that in the period 2008–
2014 one in 50 of the inhabitants was diagnosed as suffering from ACE or stroke. The
rationale of this study was the relative lack of data comparing the prevalence of both types of …