Evaluation of Stroke Patients Diagnosed with Rheumatologic Diseases

Abstract

Objective: Some comorbid diseases are recognized as specific risk factors for stroke. Rheumatological diseases constitute an important group of these diseases. In our study, we evaluated patients who were followed up for stroke in our clinic. We included patients with additional rheumatological diagnoses in a separate group and attempted to determine their differences from patients without a diagnosis. In this way, we aim to investigate the effect of rheumatological comorbidity on prognosis in stroke patients. Material and methods: We included patients diagnosed with ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, transient ischemic attack, and hemorrhagic infarction, who were admitted to our hospital between 2016-2020 and were hospitalized, in the study. Age, gender, stroke subtype, need for intensive care, and exitus status of these patients was recorded. We compared patients with a rheumatological diagnosis to patients with other stroke diagnoses using appropriate statistical methods. Results: 2053 patients with an average age of 66.22±14.33 participated in the study. A total of 37 patients were diagnosed with at least 1 rheumatological disease. We calculated the average age of these patients as 51.62±15.88. Compared to patients without a diagnosis of rheumatological disease, the age was significantly lower(p<0.001). However, we did not find a significant relationship between the distribution of stroke subtypes(p=0.538), and there was no significant difference in terms of gender(p=0.149). No statistical significance was observed in intensive care unit admissions and exitus rates.(p=0.384,0.868) Conclusion: Some rheumatologic diseases are known to be linked to stroke risk. In our study, we did not observe a significant difference between the groups in terms of prognosis. Having a history of stroke is an independent risk factor for developing stroke in the future. We believe that since patients with a rheumatological diagnosis have a stroke at a younger age, their risk of a subsequent stroke increases, and their follow-up should be more frequent.