Acute-Phase Stroke Outcome and Lipids

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship of lipid subgroups with short-term mortality in acute stroke (AS). METHODS: This retrospective study included 698 patients with AS who presented within 24 h of symptom onset. A hemogram from peripheral venous blood samples was taken at admission. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), TC/HDL-C rate, and TG/HDL-C rate were recorded. Duration of follow-up was defined as 30 days. RESULTS: 64 out of 698 patients died during the follow-up period. The mean TG, TG/HDL-C, and TC/HDL-C levels were significantly lower in the mortality group than the survival group. In the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the cutoff values and area under the curve of the TG, TG/HDL-C, TC, and TC/HDL-C levels for short-term stroke mortality are as follows ([100.2 mg/dL, 0.648]; [2.52, 0.650]; [170.50 mg/dL, 0.598]; and [4.32, 0.640], respectively). In the Cox regression model, only TG and TG/HDL-C, according to their ROC cutoff values, were independent variables as short-term mortality predictors (TG ≤100.2 mg/dL, HR:2.413 , 95% CI: 1.345–4.327, P:0.004); (TG/HDL ≤2.56, HR: 2.720, 95% CI: 1.389–5.359, P:0.003, respectively). CONCLUSION: Dyslipidemia is a well-known as a risk factor of stroke. However, this study focused on the estimation that lower TG and TG/HDL-C levels at the time of hospital admission might be predictors of short-term mortality within a month of AS attack, which is a different subject from long term risk factors of stroke. Serum TG level may be a better indicator for mortality in the acute hypercatabolic trauma such as stroke.