Characteristics of patients with ischaemic stroke*
| Overall sample (n=3750) | Admission haematocrit value | P values | ||||||
| ≤27% (n=78) | 28%–32% (n=234) | 33%–37% (n=670) | 38%–42% (n=1366) | 43%–47% (n=1059) | ≥48% (n=343) | |||
| Age, year (mean, SD) | 67.9 | 70.4 | 62.8 | 66.7 | 65.4 | 65.5 | 64.2 | <0.0001 |
| Race, white | 67.4 | 57.7 | 62.8 | 66.7 | 65.4 | 70.8 | 71.7 | 0.0048 |
| Medical history | ||||||||
| Prior stroke or TIA | 29.0 | 28.2 | 28.6 | 32.8 | 31.8 | 24.7 | 24.5 | 0.0003 |
| Intracranial haemorrhage | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9225 |
| Hypertension | 79.1 | 73.1 | 80.8 | 78.8 | 81.3 | 76.9 | 78.1 | 0.0855 |
| Diabetes | 39.9 | 53.9 | 47.9 | 48.2 | 40.4 | 34.2 | 30.6 | <0.0001 |
| Hyperlipidaemia | 48.6 | 37.2 | 41.5 | 47.9 | 52.4 | 46.9 | 47.2 | 0.0025 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 10.2 | 10.3 | 13.7 | 14.8 | 10.6 | 6.5 | 8.5 | <0.0001 |
| CAD | 28.5 | 30.8 | 34.6 | 31.9 | 30.3 | 24.7 | 22.2 | <0.0001 |
| Myocardial infarction | 10.8 | 11.5 | 9.8 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.8 | 10.8 | 0.6849 |
| CABG | 10.7 | 7.7 | 13.3 | 13.1 | 11.3 | 9.1 | 7.6 | 0.0198 |
| PTCA† | 5.8 | 6.4 | 6.0 | 4.6 | 5.8 | 6.3 | 6.4 | 0.7729 |
| Carotid stenosis | 5.4 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 0.4886 |
| CEA/CAS | 2.4 | 1.3 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.3214 |
| CHF | 12.1 | 18.0 | 18.0 | 17.2 | 11.1 | 9.2 | 10.2 | <0.0001 |
| PAD | 8.7 | 15.4 | 12.0 | 9.9 | 8.6 | 7.5 | 6.7 | 0.0293 |
| Current smoking | 35.9 | 25.4 | 22.4 | 25.5 | 33.4 | 42.6 | 56.3 | <0.0001 |
| GI/GU bleeding | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.0772 |
| COPD/asthma/bronchitis | 15.7 | 12.8 | 21.4 | 17.6 | 16.0 | 12.8 | 16.3 | 0.0096 |
| Kidney disease | 1.1 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | <0.0001 |
| Kidney disease requiring dialysis | 0.6 | 0.0 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.0030 |
| HIV | 0.8 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0881 |
| Cancer | 8.1 | 12.8 | 18.4 | 10.9 | 8.0 | 5.1 | 3.8 | <0.0001 |
| Liver disease | 1.9 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 0.8367 |
| Peptic ulcer disease | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.9154 |
| DVT/PE | 1.7 | 5.1 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.0041 |
| Dementia | 7.8 | 10.3 | 14.1 | 11.2 | 8.0 | 5.1 | 4.1 | <0.0001 |
| Non-stroke admission diagnoses and procedures‡ | ||||||||
| Pneumonia | 1.6 | 6.4 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | <0.0001 |
| Acute myocardial infarction | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.45 |
| Acute renal failure | 1.9 | 7.7 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 1.5 | <0.0001 |
| Blood transfusion during admission | 2.0 | 41.0 | 7.7 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.9 | <0.0001 |
| Charlson Index, mean (SD) | 4.8 (2.0) | 5.5 (2.3) | 6.0 (2.2) | 5.6 (2.0) | 4.8 (1.9) | 4.2 (1.8) | 4.1 (1.9) | <0.0001 |
| Modified APACHE-III, mean (SD)§ | 17.5 (7.2) | 18.7 (17.9) | 19.7 (12.3) | 18.9 (11.5) | 17.2 (10.10) | 16.6 (10.3) | 17.0 (8.5) | <0.0001 |
| Stroke severity | ||||||||
| NIHSS<10 | 88.4 | 83.3 | 82.1 | 88.7 | 87.6 | 91.1 | 88.6 | 0.0013 |
| NIHSS (mean, SD) | 6.0 | 7.3 | 2.2 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 0.0010 |
| Preambulatory status | <0.0001 | |||||||
| Ambulatory | 93.3 | 82.1 | 86.3 | 88.7 | 95.4 | 95.1 | 95.9 | |
| Non-ambulatory | 5.8 | 12.8 | 12.0 | 9.4 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 2.9 | |
| Unknown | 0.9 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.2 | |
| Admission laboratory values | ||||||||
| Platelet count <100 109 per liter | 1.8 | 6.4 | 5.6 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.8 | <0.0001 |
| White blood cell count, cells ×109/L, mean (SD) | 8.6 (4.9) | 9.7 (11.7) | 8.0 (3.8) | 8.2 (6.1) | 8.3 (3.9) | 8.8 (4.2) | 9.7 (5.4) | <0.0001 |
| Serum BUN, mg/dL, mean (SD) | 20.0 (11.6) | 32.1 (22.5) | 27.5 (17.2) | 23.2 (13.1) | 19.1 (9.7) | 17.2 (7.9) | 17.9 (12.0) | <0.0001 |
| Serum creatinine, mg/dL, mean (SD) | 1.33 (0.9) | 1.88 (1.9) | 1.86 (1.5) | 1.53 (1.0) | 1.27 (0.7) | 1.18 (0.5) | 1.21 (0.6) | <0.0001 |
| Albumin, g/dL, mean (SD) | 3.74 (0.8) | 3.27 (0.8) | 3.39 (0.7) | 3.52 (0.8) | 3.79 (0.8) | 3.89 (0.8) | 3.88 (0.9) | <0.0001 |
| Glucose, mg/dL, mean (SD) | 140 (68) | 147 (75) | 149 (74) | 138 (67) | 141 (66) | 140 (71) | 138 (67) | 0.3138 |
| LDL-c, mg/dL, mean (SD) | 105.6 (36.6) | 84.4 (39.6) | 88.6 (29.3) | 93.7 (36.7) | 93.7 (36.7) | 112.6 (37.6) | 111.9 (36.6) | <0.0001 |
| INR, mean (SD) | 1.19 (0.9) | 1.25 (0.5) | 1.35 (1.1) | 1.26 (1.1) | 1.16 (0.8) | 1.15 (0.9) | 1.21 (1.1) | 0.0300 |
| Admission vital signs | ||||||||
| SBP, mm Hg, mean (SD) | 151 (28.2) | 139 (28.8) | 145 (29.2) | 146 (28.5) | 152 (28.0) | 155 (28.6) | 156 (26.8) | <0.0001 |
| Heart rate, beats/min, mean (SD) | 77 (16.4) | 83 (18.4) | 78 (15.2) | 75 (15.8) | 76 (16.4) | 78 (16.5) | 81 (17.6) | <0.0001 |
| Oxygen saturation, % saturation, mean (SD) | 96.7 (2.6) | 96.1 (4.8) | 96.5 (3.1) | 96.9 (2.8) | 96.8 (2.4) | 96.7 (2.4) | 96.2 (2.5) | 0.0003 |
| Hypoxia (<90%), % | 2.32 | 5.13 | 4.70 | 2.24 | 2.12 | 1.98 | 2.04 | 0.0917 |
*Values are expressed as % unless otherwise indicated.
†PTCA, with or without stenting.
‡Represents active medical conditions at time of stroke admission (eg, concomitant stroke and pneumonia).
§Modified APACHE-III calculated without haematocrit values.
APACHE-III, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-III; BUN, blood, urea, nitrogen; CABG, coronary artery bypass graft; CAD, coronary artery disease; CAS, carotid artery stent; CEA, carotid artery endarterectomy; CHF, congestive heart failure; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; DVT/PE, deep venous thrombosis/pulmonary embolism; GI/GU, gastrointestinal/genitourinary; INR, international normalised ratio; LDL-c, low-density lipoprotein-c; NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; PAD, peripheral artery disease; PTCA, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty; SBP, systolic blood pressure; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.