Stress hyperglycemia increases short-term mortality in acute ischemic stroke patients after mechanical thrombectomy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Glucose-to-glycated hemoglobin ratio (GAR) is considered a more reliable marker of stress hyperglycemia by correcting for basal blood glucose levels. This study aimed to investigate the extent to which GAR is associated with 3 month and 1 year all-cause mortalities in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) undergoing mechanical thrombectomy (MT).

METHODS: We retrospectively followed 553 AIS patients who underwent MT. The degree of stress hyperglycemia was quantified as the GAR, defined as fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L)/hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (%) on the second day after admission. According to the GAR quartiles, the patients were further categorized into four groups (group 1-group 4). We assessed the association between GAR and all-cause mortalities, clinical outcomes during hospitalization and function outcomes at 3 months. The associations between stress hyperglycemia and all-cause mortalities were analyzed using a Cox proportional-hazards model, while other outcomes were analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS: The follow-up lasted a median of 18 months (range 0-66 months). The 3 month mortality rate was 9.58% (n = 53) and the 1 year mortality rate was 18.62% (n = 103). The Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a significant inverse relationship between GAR and mortality (P < 0.001). In the Cox proportional-hazards model at 3 months, compared with group1, group 4 of GAR was associated with a significant increase in the risk of 3 month mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.41-12.0, P = 0.01) after adjusting for potential covariates. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, GAR was strongly associated with an increased risk of 3 month poor function outcome.

CONCLUSIONS: Stress hyperglycemia, quantified by a higher GAR, is associated with all-cause mortality and poor functional outcomes in patients with AIS who undergo MT. Furthermore, GAR may contribute to improving the predictive efficiency of all-cause mortality in patients with AIS after MT, especially short-term all-cause mortality.