Association between Hemoglobin A1C and the severity of Acute Ischemic Stroke : in Sudanese patients in Omdurman Military Hospital

Abstract EN

Background : Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) levels are known to be linked to a higher risk of stroke.

However, no research data is available on the impact of HbA1C on the severity of acute ischemic stroke in Sudan.

Methods : This study is a descriptive, cross-sectional hospital-based study of 40 cases of acute ischemic stroke.

Ischemic stroke was confirmed using computed tomography (CT) scan at admission; all subjects' blood HbA1C levels were also measured.

Participants were divided into two subgroups based on HbA1C at admission, good glycemic control (GGC) (<7 HbA1C) and poor glycemic control (PGC) (>7 HbA1C), and neurological impairment was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS).

Results : The age distribution of the participants was 45-85 years, with an average age of 63.5+9.2 years with the highest frequency (67.5%) in the age group of 55-75 years.

PGC had a statistically significant high HbA1C value of 8.9+1.3 (P=0.000), when compared to GGC subgroups 5.1+0.

The association between stroke severity and HbA1C levels on admission in this study was statistically significant (P value=0.005), on admission (78.6%) PGC had moderate to severe stroke (> 18.8 NIHSS) versus (33.3%) that of the GGC (>10.4NIHSS).

The frequency of elevated HbA1C levels in patients with acute ischemic stroke was 70% in this study.

Conclusion : PGC was shown to be linked to the occurrence of stroke and to its severity.