Atherogenic indices in stroke patients: A retrospective study

Background: Stroke makes a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although derangements in the lipid profile have been suggested as a risk factor for the development of stroke, various studies show inconsistent results on the association between lipid profile and stroke. A very few studies have commented on the status of lipid indices in stroke patients. Methods: After obtaining ethical medical records of the study populations were analyzed, and data collected from patients admitted to the hospital with clinically diagnosed stroke and control group consisted of apparently healthy volunteers selected from the master health checkup department. Baseline characteristics and lipid profile parameters and the number of days of hospital stay for stroke patients were collected. Lipid indices were calculated using following formulae. Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) = log triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), Castelli’s Risk Index (CRI-I) = Total cholesterol/HDLc, CRI-II = Low density lipoprotein cholesterol/HDLc, atherogenic coefficient (AC) = (Total cholesterol−HDLc)/HDLc, and non-HDLc (NHC) = Total cholesterol–HDL. Results: The study included 620 participants of which 290 were stroke patients and 330 healthy volunteers. 61% of stroke patients were hypertensives and 38% were diabetics 28% were both diabetic and hypertensives. In this study, the lipid parameters and the indices were significantly higher in stroke patients than the control group. Three indices, namely, CRI-I, AC, and NHC were found to be contributing to the risk of stroke significantly. There was no statistically significant correlation between the duration of hospital stay and lipid indices or individual parameters of lipid profile. Conclusion: In this study, the atherogenic lipid indices were significantly higher in stroke patients compared to controls.