Relationship between Presence of Visceral Infarction and Functional Outcome among Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke.

INTRODUCTION

Evidence of visceral infarction is often found in patients with acute ischemic stroke. It remains uncertain whether there exists a relationship between visceral infarction and functional outcomes among patients with stroke.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether evidence of visceral infarction is associated with functional outcomes among patients with stroke.

METHODS

Among patients with acute ischemic stroke enrolled in the Cornell AcutE Stroke Academic Registry (CAESAR) from 2011 through 2016, we included those with a contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomographic scan within 1 year of admission. Our outcome was ambulatory status at discharge from acute stroke hospitalization, categorized as walking without assistance, walking with assistance, and unable to walk. We used ordinal logistic regression to examine the association between visceral infarction and discharge ambulatory status after adjustment for demographics, stroke risk factors, stroke severity (NIH Stroke Scale), and stroke subtype.

RESULTS

Among 2,116 ischemic stroke patients registered in CAESAR from 2011 to 2016, 259 had contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomographic imaging, of whom 48 (19%) had evidence of visceral infarction. After adjustment for demographics, stroke risk factors, stroke severity, and stroke subtype, the presence of visceral infarction was associated with a worse ambulatory status at discharge (global OR for better ambulatory status, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-1.0, p = 0.046).

CONCLUSIONS

We found that the presence of visceral infarction was associated with poor functional outcomes at the time of hospital discharge. These findings suggest that such findings are not necessarily benign and are at the least a marker of poor outcomes.