The prognostic value of blood glucose in patients with acute stroke

We prospectively studied levels of blood glucose and glycohemoglobin, and their correlations with types, severity, and prognosis of stroke in 37 patients with brain infarction (BI) and 35 patients with brain hemorrhage (BH). We found that in the BH group, patients with an elevated glucose level due to stress, diabetes, or both, had a lower consciousness level on admission, larger hematoma size, higher incidence of rupture into the ventricles, and a worse 1-month outcome than patients with a normal glucose level (p less than 0.05). In patients with BI, however, no significant difference was found as related to levels of glucose, though a difference in 6-month mortality between stress hyperglycemic and normoglycemic patients (p less than 0.05) was found. We conclude that an elevated glucose level is associated with a worse clinical condition, larger hematoma size, higher incidence of rupture into the ventricles, and worse outcome in patients with BH. However, it seems to be the severity of the stroke, not the hyperglycemia, that causes the poor outcome. Hyperglycemia may be an epiphenomenon of stroke severity.