Background:
We sought to examine the relationship between gender, age, co-morbidities, and outcomes in patients with non-hemorrhagic stroke.
Materials and methods:
Retrospective chart review was performed on 517 consecutive non-hemorrhagic stroke patients (48% women, 20% with diabetes, 26.8% with CAD, 38% with dyslipidemia, 62.2% with HTN, 4.2% with peripheral vascular disease, 4.7% with renal insufficiency) treated at a single academic medical center.
Results:
Younger patients were more likely to be men (age<50 55%, 51-60 58.3%, 61-70 59.6%; p<0.05) while older patients were likely to be women (age 71-80 54.9%, >80 56.6; p<0.05). Accordingly, the subsequent analysis stratified the cohort into two groups, <70 and >70 years old.
Regardless of age, men had a higher prevalence of CAD (age <70, 25.2% vs 18.8% in women, and age >70, 43.7% vs. 23.1% in women; p<0.05) and dyslipidemia (age <70, 43.4% vs 32.5% in women and age >70, 44.8% vs. 30.6% in women; p=.05). There were no significant gender based differences in BMI, prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, or chronic renal insufficiency.
The mean follow up duration was 47.3+/-0.9 months. Gender did not affect mortality in patients younger than 70 years old (15.5% men vs. 15.6% women.) However in patients of age >70 mortality was significantly increased in men (50.5% in men vs. 41.7% in women; chi-squared p<0.001, log-rank p<0.0001, Figure). In logistic regression analysis, when compared to women younger than 70 years old, men of the same age had similar mortality (HR 1.0; 95%CI 0.5-1.9, p=0.980); while age greater than 70 conferred 4-5 fold increased risk of mortality (HR 3.9; 95%CI 2.1-7.0, p<0.0001 in women, and HR 5.5; 95%CI 3.0-10.3, p<0.0001 in men). When gender and age were accounted for, history of coronary artery disease and/or dyslipidemia did not affect the outcomes.
Conclusion:
Men with non-hemorrhagic stroke were more likely to have dyslipidemia and history of coronary artery disease. This, however, did not translate into increased mortality in younger men.
Gender appears to have a differential effect on non-hemorrhagic stroke outcomes which warrants future investigation.
Asymmetric Dimethylarginine (ADMA) Levels Correlate with Peripheral Vascular Disease Severity but not Coronary Artery Disease
