Baseline or 90-day fibrinogen levels and long-term outcomes after ischemic stroke or TIA: Results from the China national stroke registry â ¢.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Elevated fibrinogen levels have been observed in patients with acute ischemic stroke, but the association of fibrinogen with stroke outcomes is still undefined. We aimed to assess the association between baseline or 90-day fibrinogen levels and long-term outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). METHODS: Using data from the China National Stroke Registry Ⅲ, this substudy included 10 518 patients within 7 days (baseline) of onset and 6268 patients at 90 days of recovery. Multivariate Cox regression and logistic regression analyses were used to assess the associations of fibrinogen with poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 3-6), dependence (modified Rankin Scale score 3-5), all-cause death, and stroke recurrence at 1 year. RESULTS: Fibrinogen levels at 90 days were higher than those at baseline (443.5 mg/dl versus 393.7 mg/dl; p < 0.001). A high baseline fibrinogen level was associated with poor functional outcome (odds ratio [OR], 1.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.35-1.97) and dependence (OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.36-2.09) after adjusting for all confounding risk factors. In contrast, further adjustment for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein attenuated the association between baseline fibrinogen level and all-cause death or stroke recurrence. Furthermore, a high 90-day fibrinogen level was also associated with poor functional outcome (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.07-2.00) and dependence (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.03-1.98) after adjusting for all confounding risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: High baseline and 90-day fibrinogen levels were associated with outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke or TIA.

The Occurrence and Longitudinal Changes of Cognitive Impairment After Acute Ischemic Stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: More and more evidence suggests that cognitive impairment (CI) after stroke is closely related to the quality of life of stroke patients. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the occurrence and longitudinal changes of CI at different stages after acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in Chinese patients. METHODS: The data of this study come from the impairment of cognition and Sleep after acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack in Chinese patients study (ICONS), a nationwide multicenter prospective registry that recruited consecutive AIS or transient ischemic attack in-hospital patients within 7 days after onset. Patients were followed for Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale at 2-week (2w), 3 months (3m) and 12 months (12m). CI was defined as MoCA score≦22. No cognitive impairment (NCI) was defined as MoCA score>22. RESULTS: A total of 2432 AIS patients were enrolled in this study. Overall, 72.94% of patients were male and the average age was 60.95 years. Median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 3. The occurrence rate of CI was 52.38%, 35.55% and 34.16% at 2w, 3m and 12m. Among patients with CI at 2w and 3m, 39.9% and 27.9% of patients returned to NCI at next follow-up point. At 3m and 12m follow-up, there were also 9.6% and 12.7% new CI patients. The two cognitive items with the highest abnormal rate were "Delayed recall" (89.35%, 83.33% and 82.80%) and "Visuospatial/executive" (78.91%, 73.42% and 70.08%). The cognitive item with the highest percentage of improved patients was "Orientation" (60.91-76.68%), and the cognitive item with the lowest percentage of improved patients was "Language" (35.85-44.50%). CONCLUSION: CI had a relatively high occurrence at 2w to 12m after AIS. CI at 3m and 12m was significantly lower than that at 2w after stroke. The occurrence of abnormalities and recovery probability for different cognitive items also differed greatly.