It is estimated that about one–quarter of the strokes occur as subsequent events. A study published in the ‘American Journal of Heart Association’ which assessed the association of higher levels of blood glucose ted with an increased risk of subsequent stroke after high‐risk transient ischemic attack or minor ischemic stroke observed that hyperglycemia on presentation is associated with an increased risk of subsequent ischemic stroke after high‐risk transient ischemic attack or minor stroke.

The investigators performed a secondary analysis of the POINT (Platelet Oriented Inhibition in New TIA and Minor Ischemic Stroke) trial to evaluate the relationship between serum glucose hyperglycemia (≥180 mg/dL) versus normoglycemia (<180 mg/dL) before enrollment in the trial and outcomes at 90 days. The primary end point was subsequent ischemic stroke modeled by a multivariable Cox model with adjustment for age, sex, race, ethnicity, study treatment assignment, index event, and key comorbidities. Of 4878 patients included in this study, 267 had a recurrent stroke. There was a higher hazard of subsequent stroke in patients with hyperglycemia compared with normoglycemia. When modeled as a continuous variable, there was evidence of a nonlinear association between serum glucose and the hazard of subsequent stroke (P<0.001)

The investigators opined that a rapid, simple assay of serum glucose may be a useful biomarker to identify patients at particularly high risk of subsequent ischemic stroke.

Read More