Risk factors for ischemic stroke: Electrocardiographic findings

Background: Standard 12-lead electrocardiography is a routine and mandatory cardiovascular examination in the evaluation of stroke patients. This study investigates the relationship of electrocardiography findings and first-ever ischemic stroke. Methods: This hospital-based case-control study consisted of 238 consecutively hospitalized cases of first-ever ischemic stroke and 238 healthy age- and sex-matched control subjects. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the risk factors and electrocardiography findings. Results: Atrial fibrillation [odds ratio (OR) = 6.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) =1.90-24.45], myocardial ischemic change (OR = 5.0, 95% CI = 2.22-11.06), left ventricular hypertrophy (OR = 3.9, 95% CI = 2.02-7.39) and sinus bradycardia (OR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.18-0.79) were significantly related with first-ever ischemic stroke. Conclusions: Electrocardiography findings of atrial fibrillation, myocardial ischemic change and left ventricular hypertrophy as risk factors for ischemic stroke were similar to those from other studies. Additional studies are needed to assess the role of sinus bradycardia for ischemic stroke, which was less common in patients with stroke than in controls.