Association of early glycemic change with short-term mortality in lobar and non-lobar intracerebral hemorrhage

The association between early glycemic change and short-term mortality in non-diabetic patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is unclear. We retrospectively investigated non-diabetic patients with lobar (n = 262) and non-lobar ICH (n = 370). Each patient had a random serum glucose test on hospital admission and a fasting serum glucose test within the following 48 h. Hyperglycemia was defined as serum glucose ≥ 7.8 mmol/l. Four patterns were determined: no hyperglycemia (reference category), persistent hyperglycemia, delayed hyperglycemia, and decreasing hyperglycemia. Associations with 30-day mortality were estimated using Cox models adjusted for major features of ICH severity. Persistent hyperglycemia was associated with 30-day mortality in both lobar (HR 3.00; 95% CI 1.28–7.02) and non-lobar ICH (HR 4.95; 95% CI 2.20–11.09). In lobar ICH, 30-day mortality was also associated with delayed (HR 4.10; 95% CI 1.77–9.49) and decreasing hyperglycemia (HR 2.01, 95% CI 1.09–3.70). These findings were confirmed in Cox models using glycemic change (fasting minus random serum glucose) as a continuous variable. Our study shows that, in non-diabetic patients with ICH, early persistent hyperglycemia is an independent predictor of short-term mortality regardless of hematoma location. Moreover, in non-diabetic patients with lobar ICH, both a positive and a negative glycemic change are associated with short-term mortality.