title: Infections and ischemic stroke outcome.
abstract: Background. Infections increase the risk of ischemic stroke (IS) and may worsen IS prognosis. Adverse effects of in-hospital infections on stroke outcome were also reported. We aimed to study the prevalence of pre- and poststroke infections and their impact on IS outcome. Methods. We analysed clinical data of 2066 IS patients to assess the effect of pre-stroke and post-stroke infections on IS severity, as well as short-term (up to 30 days) and long-term (90 days) outcome. The independent impact of infections on poor outcome (death, death/dependency) was investigated by use of logistic regression analysis. The effect of antibiotic therapy during hospitalization on the outcome was also assessed. Results. Pre-stroke infections independently predicted worse short-term outcome. In-hospital infections were associated with worse short-term and long-term IS prognosis. Antibacterial treatment during hospitalization did not improve patients' outcome. Conclusions. Prevention of infections may improve IS prognosis. The role of antibiotic therapy after IS requires further investigations.
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Neurology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, 02-957 Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Grabska
authors.forename: Grażyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gromadzka
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Członkowska