Cerebral arteriosclerosis stenosis predicts poor short-term prognosis in non-valvular atrial fibrillation related cardioembolic stroke treated by reperfusion therapy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate the association between cerebral arteriosclerosis stenosis (CAS) and the short-term prognosis of non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) related cardioembolic stroke treated by reperfusion therapy. METHODS: The data of 195 consecutive NVAF related cardioembolic stroke patients were retrospectively collected. We defined poor functional outcome as a modified Rankin scale (mRS) score of > 2 at 90 days. RESULTS: Patients with CAS were more likely to be older (75.5 ± 6.8 vs. 72.5 ± 9.2 years, p = 0.001), more current smokers (35.6% vs. 24.1%, p = 0.018), with hypertension (88.1% vs. 65.6%, p < 0.001), diabetes mellitus (50.0% vs. 20.0%, p = 0.020), dyslipidemia (33.9% vs. 23.6%, p = 0.029), previous history of stroke (30.5% vs. 19.5%, p = 0.012), and congestive heart failure (32.2% vs. 22.6%, p = 0.041). Patients with CAS had higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) (18 [13, 22] vs. 15 [9, 19], p < 0.001), and 90-day mRS scores (5 [3, 6] vs. 3[2, 5], p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CAS (odds ratio [OR] 3.184, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.314-7.713, p = 0.01), NIHSS score on admission (OR 1.228 [per 1 point], 95% CI 1.146-1.316, p < 0.001), congestive heart failure (OR 2.850, 95% CI 1.108-7.331, p = 0.030), and current smokers (OR 2.841, 95% CI 1.102-7.326, p = 0.031) were independent predictors of a poor functional outcome at 90 days. CONCLUSION: We should give the coexistence of CAS and NVAF related cardioembolic stroke proper attention. CAS was an independent factor for predicting the short-term prognosis of NVAF associated cardioembolic stroke patients treated by reperfusion therapy.