[The influence of diabetes on neurological outcome and mortality in stroke patients]

In a retrospective study of diabetic and non-diabetic patients with acute ischaemic stroke, mortality and neurological outcome were assessed. Mortality was determined 4 weeks after admission. The study population consisted of the consecutive patients (n = 609) admitted to the Department of Neurology with acute stroke between January 1994 and December 1995. There were 80 diabetic and 529 non-diabetic patients. The mortality rate was higher in diabetics (36.3%) than in non-diabetics (27%), but the difference was not significant (p = 0.08). The neurological status on admission, age, history of arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation and coronary arterial disease were used to select groups of 41 diabetics and 84 non-diabetics with similar risk factors and similar onset of stroke. The neurological status on 10-th, 20-th and 28-th day of the hospital stay in both groups was compared. The study showed that insulin-dependent diabetics and older patients (above 65 years of age) with diabetes demonstrated a worse neurological outcome than non-diabetic patients, although the difference was not significant.