Low serum magnesium is associated with poor functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack patients

AIM: The association between magnesium and outcomes after stroke is uncertain. We aimed to investigate the association of serum magnesium with all‐cause mortality and poor functional outcome. METHODS: We included patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) from the China National Stroke Registry III. We used Cox proportional hazards model for all‐cause mortality and logistic regression model for poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] 2–6/3–6) to examine the relationships. RESULTS: Among the 6483 patients, the median (interquartile range) magnesium was 0.87 (0.80–0.93) mmol/L. Patients in the first quartile had a higher risk of mRS score 3–6/2–6 at 3 months (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02, 1.64; adjusted OR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.04–1.59) compared with those in the fourth quartile. Similar results were found for mRS score 26 at 1 year. The age‐ and sex‐adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with 95% CI in first quartile magnesium was 1.40 (1.02–1.93) for all‐cause mortality within 1 year, but became insignificant (HR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.71–1.50) after adjusting for potential variables. CONCLUSIONS: Low serum magnesium was associated with a high risk of poor functional outcome in patients with AIS or TIA.