Admission blood lactate levels of patients diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease effects on short- and long-term mortality risk.

OBJECTIVE Our study was carried out on patients admitted to the emergency ward with acute stroke symptoms that were subsequently diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease. We aimed to examine the relationship between these patients' admission lactate levels and their 1-, 3-, and 12-month mortality rates in order to evaluate the prognostic value of lactate levels. METHODS Our data were obtained retrospectively from 568 patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke at our emergency department between 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2018. Patient data were accessed via the hospital patient database. Included patients' files were assessed for examination and history taken at admission, comorbid diseases, demographic characteristics, treatments utilized, and laboratory results. Hyperlactatemia was defined as a lactate level of over 2 mmol/L. The relationship between lactate levels and survival was investigated. Patients' complication rates after discharge were assessed alongside their 1-, 3-, and 12-month mortality. RESULTS Our study assessed 568 patients. Out of these patients, 400 patients met our inclusion criteria and constituted the study population. These patients were separated into two groups according to their lactate levels. The hyperlactatemic group had a statistically significant increase in 1-, 3-, and 12-month mortality rates in comparison to the other group. CONCLUSIONS Our study found that hyperlactatemia was associated with a higher risk of 1-, 3-, and 12-month mortality, suggesting that it has predictive prognostic value. In the future, we believe that prospective observational studies and/or large-scale retrospective studies will be of great value in providing more insight into this topic.