Cardiac complications (arrhythmias and heart failure) in patients with ischemic stroke: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: In patients with ischemic stroke (pwIS), cardiac complications have been observed in observational studies. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the arrhythmias and heart failure in pwIS. Methods: Up until September 2023, we searched for case-control, cross-sectional, or cohort studies in 4 databases. For case-control/cross-sectional studies, odds ratios (OR) were determined using a random-effects model meta-analysis, while hazard ratios (HR) were calculated for cohort studies, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled in the meta-analysis. Results: In the meta-analysis, we incorporated 5 studies: 2 cohort studies, 2 case-control studies, and 1 cross-sectional study. In all, 81,181 controls and 25,544 pwIS were included in this investigation. The combined OR for case-control studies of arrhythmias was estimated to be 1.86 (95% CI: 0.70–4.94, P = .21), HR for cohort studies of arrhythmias to be 4.2 (95% CI: 1.49–12.01, P < .05), and for cohort studies of heart failure to be 2.9 (95% CI: 2.65–3.18, P < .05), suggesting that pwIS may be more likely to experience cardiac complications. Conclusion: Our results revealed that there is a comparatively higher risk of cardiac complications in pwIS; however, more research is needed to evaluate the risk of cardiac complications in pwIS.