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Body temperature correlates with functional outcome and the lesion size of cerebral infarction
H Fukuda1, M Kitani, K Takahashi
1Department of Neurology, Masuda Red Cross Hospital, Shimane, Japan.
Introduction:
Experimental studies have demonstrated that mild hyperthermia exacerbates ischemia-induced neuronal injury.
Material And Methods:
We examined the relationship between body temperature and functional outcome in 183 patients suffering from cerebral infarction, and admitted within 24 h from the onset of stroke. Patients' functional capacities in daily life were evaluated by Rankin's score before the attack (RS0), on the day of admission (RS1), and 3 months after the onset of stroke (RS90).
Results:
RS90 showed an independent correlation with RS0, RS1, age, infarct size and maximum body temperature recorded within the first 7 days from the onset of stroke by multivariate analysis. History of previous cerebrovascular accidents, atrial fibrillation, hemorrhagic transformation, infection, and a hypothalamic lesion showed significant associations with RS90 by the Mann-Whitney U-test, but not by multivariate analysis. Infarct size correlated with body temperature, atrial fibrillation, and hemorrhagic transformation.
Conclusion:
Body temperature correlated well with both functional outcome and infarct size in patients with an acute cerebral infarction.