The clinical value of triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio for predicting stroke-associated pneumonia after spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE

Stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) is relevant to the poor functional outcomes of patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH). It is unclear if the triglyceride (TG) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio (TG/HDL-C) is related to the risk of SAP in SICH patients. This study aimed to investigate the association between TG/HDL-C and SAP in SICH patients.

METHODS

Consecutive patients with SICH were enrolled in this retrospective study. Relevant clinical variables were extracted from electronic medical records. All enrolled participants were divided into SAP (n = 71) and non-SAP (n = 187) groups. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to explore the association between TG/HDL-C and SAP. The optimal cutoff value of TG/HDL-C was defined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC).

RESULTS

Among 258 patients, 71 (27.5%) had SAP. Patients with SAP were older (72.75 ± 11.10 vs. 64.81 ± 12.70 years), with a lower TG, higher HDL-C, and lower TG/HDL-C than participants in the non-SAP group. TG/HDL-C was an independent protective factor for SAP (adjusted OR 0.516, 95% CI 0.339-0.784) after adjusting for relevant risk factors. According to ROC analysis, the optimal cutoff value was a TG/HDL-C > 1.09 for decreased SAP [area under the ROC curve (AUC) 0.705; sensitivity 76.1% and specificity 59.4%]. Patients with a TG/HDL-C of > 1.09 were independently associated with decreased SAP (adjusted OR 0.285, 95% CI 0.138-0.591 ) after adjustment.

CONCLUSION

This study suggests that a lower TG/HDL-C is independently associated with increased SAP after SICH.