Lack of association between hyperglycaemia at arrival and clinical outcomes in acute stroke patients treated with tissue plasminogen activator

outcome. Design Consecutive rt-PA-treated acute ischaemic stroke patients presenting to four emergency departments were analysed. Associations of initial blood glucose and survival to hospital discharge, symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage, any form of intracerebral haemorrhage, and disability at hospitaldischargeweredetermined.Potentiallyconfounding factors of age, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, and smoking were analysed by univariate logistic regression and those with Po0.3 included in the multivariate model. Study Outcome In 268 patients, initial glucose values ranged from 62 to 507mg/dl (mean 131). Elevated glucose at arrival was not significantly associated with any adverse clinical outcomes. A trend towards higher mortality in hyperglycaemic patients (odds ratio 1.71 per 100mg/dl increase in glucose, 95% confidence interval 0.92–3.13, P 50.08) was seen, but is of unclear significance, and was not corroborated by effects on discharge disability, symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage or intracerebral haemorrhage. Conclusions Thrombolytic-treated stroke patients with hyperglycaemiaatpresentationdidnothavesignificantlyworse outcomesthanothersinthiscohort.Thesedatafailtoconfirm previously described associations seen in similarly sized studies. Further study of these associations and their magnitude are necessary to better define the relationship between serum glucose and outcome in thrombolytic-treated acute ischaemic stroke.