Gender-specific relationship between uric acid levels and prognosis after cerebral venous thrombosis.

BACKGROUND: Uric acid (UA) has been known to play a neuroprotective role in ischemic stroke patients. However, the relationship between UA levels and prognosis in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) has not been investigated.

METHOD: A total of 228 CVT patients were retrospectively identified and were divided into three groups according to UA levels. Functional outcome was evaluated by modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relation between UA levels and functional outcome after CVT.

RESULTS: UA levels were significantly higher in male than female patients (274.5±125.9 vs. 197.4±81.6, P < 0.001). The association between UA levels and mortality was modified by sex (P-interaction = 0.010). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that a higher UA level was associated with a decreased risk of mRS of 3 to 6 in female patients (odds ratio [OR] = 0.204; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.044-0.938), but not in male patients (OR= 0.441; 95% CI, 0.033-5.339). Similarly, a high UA level was associated with a decreased risk of mortality in female patients (OR= 0.058; 95% CI, 0.008-0.437), but not in male patients (OR= 2.309; 95% CI, 0.057-93.308). In addition, each 1 &mu;mol/L increase in UA levels was also associated with a lower risk of poor clinical outcome and mortality for female patients, but not in male patients.

CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that there might be a gender-specific relationship between UA levels and clinical outcome in patients with CVT. Higher UA levels were associated with better prognosis in female patients, but not in male patients.