Early clinical implications of microalbuminuria in patients with acute ischaemic stroke

Introduction: Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Stroke accounts for the second leading cause of death, about 11.13% of total deaths worldwide. Microalbuminuria is known to be associated with increased risk of mortality in ischaemic stroke patients. But there have been no studies to assess whether microalbuminuria affects the early clinical outcome of patients with acute ischaemic stroke. Aim: This study aims to investigate whether microalbuminuria affects the early clinical outcome of patients with acute ischaemic stroke. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study of patients with ischaemic stroke (who presented within 24 hours of symptom onset) who were consecutively admitted in three tertiary care centres during the time period from November 2013 to June 2015. Early clinical outcomes in patients were assessed by investigating the presence of Early Neurological Deterioration (END) using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale. Urine albumin creatinine ratio was divided into two categories – Normal (less than 30mg/g of creatinine) or Urine Microalbuminuria (30-300 mg/g of creatinine). Results: Total 42 out of 70 patients (60%) were found to have microalbuminuria. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, microalbuminuria was found to be independently associated with END in patients with acute ischaemic stroke (p=0.044). Conclusion: In the early periods following acute ischaemic stroke, patients with microalbuminuria have worse clinical outcome.