Association of serum uric acid with ischemic stroke.

The present study has examined the association between ischemic stroke and hyperuricemia in Bangladeshi population. This age and sex matched case control study was carried out in the Department of Neurology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period of January 2007 to December 2008. A total of 120 subjects were included in this study, among them 60 were cases and another 60 were controls. Data were collected purposively. Multiple logistic regressions were done to identify the risk factors for ischemic stroke. In this study 68.3% were male and 31.7% were female in both the groups. Male and female ratio of stroke patients was 2.16:1. Mean±SD of serum uric acid level of case and control group was 4.94±1.76 and 3.72±1.09 respectively. Among the case group 76.7% had normal and 23.3% had abnormal serum uric acid level. On the other hand, 93.3% respondents of control group had normal and 6.7% had abnormal serum uric acid (SUA) level. Significant differences was found between case and control group in term of SUA level (p<0.05). Since SUA level is a quantitative numerical variable, an increase in 1mg/dl has a 47.0% (95% CI 1.0% to 2.16%) increase in odds ratio (OR) of having ischemic stroke. This 47.0% is obtained by taking OR for uric acid-1. Elevated serum uric acid level is not significant for ischemic stroke among the Bangladeshi population.