Case-fatality of acute ischemic stroke in stroke units of Latin American hospitals

Abstract

Background and purpose: The Case-fatality of acute ischemic stroke in stroke units of Latin American hospitals is a multicenter registry from various stroke centers in Latin America, exploring demographic, clinical, imaging, and functional outcomes in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients, with the intention of determining case-fatality rates (in-hospital, 30 and 90 days follow up) and analyzing associated risk factors.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from hospitalized AIS patients over 18 years of age, collected from 27 centers in 11 Latin American countries between January 1 and December 31, 2022. The effect size was estimated using the hazard ratio (HR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) through Cox regression models to assess the association between time to 30-day fatality event and covariates.

Results: A total of 2,997 patients were included. The mean age was 68.7 years and 48.1 % were women. In-hospital case-fatality was 9.42 %, 277 patients (10.2 %) died within 30 days, and 90-day case-fatality was relatively close at 353 patients (13.3 %). Complications were reported in 31.3 % of cases, most frequently infections (18.5 %). Age over 75 years (HRa=2.28), hyperglycemia (HRa=1.28), baseline status (HRa=1.61), stroke severity according to NIHSS >26 (HRa=6.11) and the presence of neurological complications (HRa=3.2) were risk factors for 30-day follow up case-fatality in these patients.

Conclusion: AIS patients in Latin America stroke centers had an in-hospital case-fatality of 9.42 % and the 30-day case-fatality was 10.2 %. Older age, hyperglycemia, baseline status, stroke severity and neurological complications were the strongest predictors of early case-fatality. The findings underscore the need to optimize stroke management protocols in the region.

Keywords: Case-fatality; Ischemic stroke; Latin America; Multicenter study; Risk factors.