Association of prestroke glycemic status with stroke mortality.

Objective: The role of diabetes as a predictor of mortality after stroke remains uncertain, and there are very few data for pre-diabetes. This study investigated the association of pre-diabetes and diabetes with 30-day and 1-year mortality after ischemic stroke (IS) and primary intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Research Design And Methods: Between 2006 and 2013, 2076 patients with IS and 586 patients with ICH (median age 79) were admitted to hospital within 24 hours after stroke onset and were treated in a stroke unit, where they underwent measurement of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).

Age-specific rate of undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes in acute stroke.

Aims: We investigated age-specific rates of undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes among patients with acute stroke.

Methods: We used data from 2223 patients with acute stroke consecutively admitted to an Italian Stroke Unit (SU) between 2010 and 2015. Information from medical records and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) measured on admission was retrospectively used to screen for diabetes and prediabetes defined according to standard criteria.

Risk of Exclusion From Stroke Rehabilitation in the Oldest Old.

Objective: To investigate whether oldest-old age (≥85y) is an independent predictor of exclusion from stroke rehabilitation.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Stroke unit (SU) of a tertiary hospital.

The Effect of Age on Characteristics and Mortality of Intracerebral Hemorrhage in the Oldest-Old.

Background: Incidence of acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) increases with age, but there is a lack of information about ICH characteristics in the oldest-old (age ≥85 years). In particular, there is a need for information about hematoma volume, which is included in most clinical scales for prediction of mortality in ICH patients. Many of these scales also assume that, independent of ICH characteristics, the oldest-old have a higher mortality than younger elderly patients (age 65-74 years).

Homocysteinemia and early outcome of acute ischemic stroke in elderly patients.

Objectives: Plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) is a risk factor for ischemic stroke (IS) but its relationship with IS outcome is uncertain. Moreover, previous studies underrepresented older IS patients, although risk of both hyperhomocysteinemia and IS increases with age. We investigated whether, in elderly patients with acute IS, tHcy measured on admission to the Stroke Unit (SU) is an independent predictor of SU discharge outcomes.

Thyroid function tests and early outcomes of acute ischemic stroke in older euthyroid patients.

Blood thyroid function tests (TFT) are routinely used to screen for thyroid disorders in several clinical settings. TFT on hospital admission may also be useful prognostic predictors of acute IS: according to recent evidence, poststroke outcome is better in patients with lower thyroid function and worse in those with higher thyroid function. However, previous reports are few and mostly compared patients with thyroid disorders to euthyroid patients.

Independent predictors of ischemic stroke in the elderly: prospective data from a stroke unit.

Objective: Incidence of ischemic stroke (IS) increases with age. Knowledge of factors associated with IS acute outcomes in the oldest-old (≥80 years) is needed to improve quality of care and resource allocation in this age group.

Methods: Data are for 769 consecutive IS patients aged ≥60 years (436 aged ≥80 years) admitted to an Italian stroke unit in a 4-year period.

Conversion of mild cognitive impairment to dementia in elderly subjects: a preliminary study in a memory and cognitive disorder unit.

Prevalence and incidence of predementia syndromes vary as a result of different diagnostic criteria, as well as different sampling and assessment procedures. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is thought to be a prodromal phase of dementia and therefore highly predictive of subsequent conversion. The aim of our study was to investigate the risk of conversion to dementia for different MCI subtypes diagnosed according to standardized and recently revised criteria (amnestic; impairment of memory plus other cognitive domains; nonamnestic).