Diastolic Dysfunction and Outcome in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Abstract

Background: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (DD) is associated with an increased mortality in general population and patients with myocardial infarct. In the present study, we investigated whether DD is associated with outcomes after ischemic stroke. Methods: Five hundred and three acute ischemic stroke patients with normal left ventricular ejection fraction (≥50%) were retrospectively included. Echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging were used to evaluate and grade diastolic function. Ordinal logistic and Cox regression analyses were used to examine relations between DD and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 3 months and mortality after stroke, respectively. Results: Mean age was 67.2 ± 11.8 years and 63% were men. Among parameters of diastolic function, early mitral inflow velocity/early diastolic mitral annulus velocity (E/e') was independently related with higher mRS score at 3 months and mortality after ischemic stroke. The highest quartile of E/e' (>14) was independently associated with higher mRS score (adjusted OR 3.86, 95% CI 2.27-6.54) as well as with mortality (hazards ratio [HR] 2.87, 95% CI 1.17-7.04) as compared to the lowest quartile of E/e' (<8.8). In addition, moderate-to-severe DD grade was related to higher mRS score (adjusted OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.15-5.06) and mortality (HR 6.63, 95% CI 1.80-24.43) compared to the normal diastolic function. Conclusion: In patients with ischemic stroke, DD is associated with functional outcome at 3 months and mortality. Our data suggest that more attention should be given to DD in patients with ischemic stroke.