Association of Baseline Hyperglycaemia with Outcomes of Diabetic and Non-diabetic Acute Ischaemic Stroke Patients treated with Intravenous Thrombolysis: a Propensity Score Matched Analysis from the SITS-ISTR registry

Available data from observational studies on the association of admission hyperglycaemia (aHG) with outcomes of acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) are contradictory especially when stratified by diabetes mellitus (DM) history. We assessed the association of aHG (≥144 mg/dl) with outcomes stratified by DM history using propensity score matched (PSM) data from the SITS-ISTR. The primary safety outcome was symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage (SICH); three-month functional independence (FI;mRS scores 0-2) represented the primary efficacy outcome. Patients with and without aHG did not differ in baseline characteristics both in the non-diabetic (n=12,318) and diabetic (n=6,572) PSM subgroups. In the non-DM group, patients with aHG had lower 3- month FI (53.3% vs. 57.9%,p<0.001) rates, higher 3-month mortality rates (19.2% vs. 16.0%,p<0.001) and similar SICH rates (1.7% vs. 1.8%,p=0.563) compared to patients without aHG. Similarly, in the DM group, patients with aHG had lower rates of 3-month favourable functional outcome (mRS scores 0-1, 34.1% vs. 39.3%,p<0.001) and FI (48.2% vs. 52.5%,p<0.001), higher 3-month mortality rates (23.7% vs. 19.9%,p<0.001) and similar SICH rates (2.2% vs. 2.7%,p=0.224) compared to patients without aHG. In conclusion, aHG was associated with unfavorable 3 month clinical outcomes in both diabetic and non-diabetic AIS patients treated with IVT.