BACKGROUND: Anemia and elevated hemoglobin levels (HL) are frequent in ischemic stroke patients and their prognostic meaning is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to study the effect of HL on functional outcome and risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) in stroke patients treated with thrombectomy. METHODS: In this prospective multicenter study from the EndoVAscular Treatment and ThRombolysis for Ischemic Stroke Patients Registry (EVA-TRISP), we investigated whether HL were associated with 3-month poor outcome (mRS 3-6), mortality, and sICH. HL were categorized as anemia (155g/L; male:>170g/L). Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (OR 95%-CI) from logistic regression models were calculated. Additionally, we calculated fitted conditional mean outcomes on HL as a continuous variable. RESULTS: 1.491.09-2.03). HL were not associated with occurrence of sICH. HL as continuous variable showed a U-shaped relationship for mortality and poor outcome. CONCLUSION: The more severe both the anemia and the hemoglobin level are, the higher the likelihood of poor outcome and death. They may constitute targets for interventions to improve outcomes.
Altersberger et al. (Fri,) studied this question.