2011 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 57-62
Aim: We classified acute ischemic stroke patients with cancer according to their causal relations, and attempted to evaluate the clinical characteristics of ischemic stroke associated with cancer.
Methods: This is a retrospective study of all acute ischemic stroke patients admitted to our hospital between January 2006 and March 2009. Among acute ischemic stroke patients, we identified 30 patients with a history of cancer, or who developed cancer within 1 year from their ischemic stroke onset. There were 2 patients excluded from our evaluation because they had undergone extirpation of their cancer more than 5 years before stroke onset, and no recurrence of cancer within 5 years of stroke onset was noted. Finally, 28 patients were enrolled and evaluated in this study. Ischemic stroke was classified based on the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) criteria. In addition, we classified the patients according to their causal relations of ischemic stroke with cancer.
Results: The median patient age was 74 years (range, 56 to 91 years); 68% of patients were men. Of these, 8 (29%) were classified into an ischemic stroke related to cancer group. There was a higher prevalence of ischemic stroke related to cancer in patients under 75 years old with clinical stage IV cancer (p=0.02). D-dimer tended to be higher in those patients with ischemic stroke related to cancer in this study (p=0.13).
Conclusion: Ischemic stroke related to cancer was found more frequently in patients under 75 years old with advanced cancer. Additionally, D-dimer tended to be higher in those patients with ischemic stroke related to cancer.
