A routine blood test that measures kidney function can be a valuable predictor of short-term outcomes for stroke patients, according to a study led by a neurologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
A routine blood test that measures kidney function can be a valuable predictor of short-term outcomes for stroke patients, according to a study led by a neurologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
The study team analyzed data on more than 232,000 ischemic stroke patients age 65 and older who were admitted to 1,581 U.S. hospitals over a three-year period. The researchers found that those patients with renal dysfunction upon admission, as indicated by the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) calculated from a blood creatinine test and basic demographic information such as age, race and sex, were significantly more likely to die while hospitalized and far less likely to be discharged home.
The study is published in the February issue of the journal Stroke.
“Kidney disease is frequently a comorbidity in patients with acute ischemic stroke,” said the study’s principal investigator, Nada El Husseini, M.D., assistant professor of neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, a part of Wake Forest Baptist. “This one test done on admission to measure kidney function can be used to better inform patients with ischemic stroke and their families about what to expect.”
Read more at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
