Circadian Temperature in Moderate to Severe Acute Stroke Patients

Background: Stroke patients often present circadian disruption due to multiple causes e.g., primary disease, comorbidities, medication, immobilization, reduced daylight entrainment and sleep disturbances. Objective: To investigate the circadian rhythm of temperature in forehead skin in patients with moderate to severe stroke admitted for rehabilitation. Methods: 2015. Circadian temperature was collected approx. seven days after admission at the acute stroke unit by a skin surface temperature probe as part of a Polysomnography (PSG) measurement. The median temperature variance did fluctuate, but not significantly, and the small changes in circadian temperature variance did not follow the normal temperature variance. Conclusion: Patients with moderate to severe stroke show an abrogated circadian rhythm of temperature. There is an unmet need to understand the mechanisms for this, significance for stroke outcome and treatment.