Frequency of Homocysteinemia in Ischemic Stroke Patients

Background: Stroke is a form of cardiovascular disease affecting the blood supply to the brain, resulting in neurologic deficit in the corresponding area of the body. Epidemiologic studies have identified homocysteinemia as a possible risk factor for atherosclerosis. It was ranked as the second most common cause of death and the third most common cause of disability in the world by WHO in 2010. Objective: To assess the frequency of homocysteinemia in patients of ischemic stroke and determine relationship between homocysteinemia and other factors like age, sex, hypertension, diabetes and smoking. Material and Methods: A single centered cross sectional study which included100 patients of ischemic stroke admitted in the department of Medicine, Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi in 2016. Results: The mean age of patients was 59.06 ±11.501 years and the mean serum homocysteine level of the patients was 15.38 ± 6.93 m mol/dl. There were 35 patients having homocysteinemia with ischemic stroke while in 65 patients homocysteine level was within normal range. The presence of homocysteinemia was found to be significantly more in non-diabetics (p< 0.02) and normotensive (p<0.001) patients as compared to diabetic and hypertensive patients respectively. The presence of homocysteinemia in smokers and non-smokers was not statistically significant (p=0.151). Conclusion: The frequency of homocysteinemia was 35% in patients of ischemic stroke in our study and was more in nondiabetics and normotensive patients. Further large, multi-center trials are required to demonstrate the relationship between homocysteinemia and other diseases.