Study Identifies High Prevalence of Ischemic Stroke at the Start of DialysisJody A. Charnow
April 23 2010
Approximately one in 15 patients starting dialysis have had an ischemic stroke, according to researchers.
Carmen Sánchez-Perales, MD, and colleagues at the Complejo Hospitalario de Jaén in Jaén, Spain, studied 449 dialysis patients who had mean age of 64.4 years. Of these, 30 (6.7%) had a previous stroke at the start of dialysis, the investigators reported in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (published online ahead of print). During a follow-up of nearly 39 months, 34 patients presented with one or more strokes, an incidence of 2.41 per 100 patient-years. The presence of diabetes or atrial fibrillation independently predicted the occurrence of stroke. These conditions were significantly associated with a 2.3 and 3.1 times increased risk of stroke.
The researchers concluded that the prevalence of ischemic stroke at the start of dialysis is high and its incidence is elevated during follow-up. In addition, atrial fibrillation is an important predictor of ischemic stroke “and as such, the clinical implication is that prophylactic anti-coagulation therapy needs to be considered for these individuals.”
http://www.renalandurologynews.com/study-identifies-high-prevalence-of-ischemic-stroke-at-the-start-of-dialysis/printarticle/168608/
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