Mid-term prognosis in patients with mild acute ischemic stroke and its consequences

Abstract

Stroke is the second cause of death and long term disability in the world. It is caused due to interruption of blood flow to the brain. Several factors affect the prognosis of stroke patients. Regarding the high prevalence of stroke, we decided to study the mid-term prognosis in patients with mild acute ischemic stroke and its consequences’. Materials and methods: This is a cross sectional study conducted from 2018 to 2020 in patients with mild ischemic stroke (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (NIHSS) ≤ 5) referred to Imam Reza Hospital in Tabriz. Demographic characteristics, risk factors and disease history, drug use and patients functional status were recorded. The patients’ functional status and severity of stroke were evaluated using the NIHSS score evaluated at the time of admission and discharge and the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at the time of discharge and at the end of the follow up period. A mRS score of 4 or higher was considered as an indicator of disability. Results: A total of 218 patients were included in the study. The mean age (Standard Deviation) of the sample was 61.94 (13.56) years, and 63.3% (138 patients) were male. Median (Interquartile Range) of NIHSS scores at the time of admission and discharge were 3 (2-4) and 1(0-2) respectively.At the end of the follow up period 179 patient (82.1%) had favorable outcomes (mRS≤ 2), 34 patients (15.6%) had unfavorable outcomes (2<mRS<6), 4 patients (1.8%) died and there was one patient missed to follow up. There was a statistically significant relationship between patients’ mid-term prognosis and treatment with tPA. (P-Value= 0.004) During the follow up period there was no recurrent strokes, a case of myocardial infarction and 2 mortalities.