C-reactive protein levels are associated with early cardiac complications or death in patients with acute ischemic stroke: a propensity-matched analysis of a global federated health from the TriNetX network

The role of inflammation in predicting early cardiac complications among stroke patients is unclear. Electronic medical records from TriNetX, a global federated health research network, were used for this retrospective analysis. Patients with ischemic stroke and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels measured within 24 h post-stroke were categorized into three groups: (i) < 1 mg/L, (ii)1–3 mg/L and (iii) > 3 mg/L. The primary outcome was a composite outcome of cardiac complications (heart failure (HF), ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation (AF), ventricular arrhythmias and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy) or death at 30 days from the index event. Cox-regression analyses were used to produce hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) following 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM). Of the 104,741 patients enrolled, 51% were female and the mean age was 66 ± 16 years. After PSM, a new cardiac complication or death within 30 days occurred in 5624 (33.1%) patients with CRP > 3 mg/L, in 4243 (25.6%) patients with CRP 1–3 mg/L and in 3891 (23.5%) patients with CRP < 1 mg/L. Patients with CRP levels of 1–3 mg/L and > 3 mg/L had higher risk of the composite outcome (HR 1.10, 95%CI 1.05–1.52; HR 1.51, 95%CI 1.45–1.58), death (HR 1.43, 95%CI 1.24–1.64; HR 3.50, 95%CI 3.01–3.96), HF (HR 1.08, 95%CI 1.01–1.16; HR 1.51, 95%CI 1.41–1.61), AF (HR 1.10, 95% CI:1.02–1.18; HR 1.42, 95%CI 1.33–1.52) and ventricular arrhythmias (HR 1.25, 95%CI 1.02–1.52; HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.38–2.01) compared to those with CRP < 1 mg/L. Ischemic heart disease were more common among patients with CRP levels > 3 mg/L compared to those with CRP < 1 mg/L (HR:1.33, 95% CI:1.26–1.40), while no association with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy was found in all the analyses. CRP levels within the first 24 h of an ischemic stroke predict 30-day cardiac complications or death. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11739-023-03280-1.