Low-density lipoprotein level on admission is not associated with postintravenous thrombolysis intracranial hemorrhage in patients with acute ischemic stroke

© American Federation for Medical Research 2018. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. Intravenous thrombolysis with the tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the gold standard for acute ischemic stroke. However, its application is limited because of the concern of the post-tPA intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). Low low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has been speculated to increase the risk of hemorrhagic transformation after ischemic stroke. However, whether LDL is associated with post-tPA ICH remains controversial. The present study obtained the medical records from Shuang Ho Hospital and retrospectively reviewed for the period between August 2009 and December 2016 to investigate the association between LDL and the risk of post-tPA ICH. The differences were analyzed using the Student's t-test, Fisher's exact test, the univariate and stepwise multiple regression model, and p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Among 218 patients, post-tPA ICH was noted in 23 (10.5%) patients. Patients with post-tPA ICH tended to have a lower LDL level (ICH group: 102.00±24.56, non-ICH group: 117.02±37.60 mg/dL, p=0.063). However, after adjustment for the factors might affect the risk of post-tPA ICH, such as stroke severity, onset-to-treatment time interval, and atrial fibrillation (AF), LDL level was not associated with post-tPA ICH whereas AF was the only significant factor increased the risk of post-tPA ICH (adjusted OR: 1.177, 95% CI 1.080 to 1.283). In addition, patients with AF had significant lower LDL level and for patients without AF, LDL was not associated with the post-tPA ICH. In conclusion, LDL level is not associated with the risk of post-tPA ICH in Taiwanese patients with stroke.