Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol to Triglyceride Ratio and Clinical Outcomes after Acute Ischaemic Stroke or Transient Ischaemic Attack

Abstract

Aims: Studies showed that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) to triglyceride (TG) ratio could be used as a predictive parameter of low-density lipoprotein oxidation in vivo and the level of small dense LDL-C. However, whether LDL-C/TG ratio is associated with stroke prognosis remains unclear. We investigated the associations of LDL-C/TG ratio with outcomes in patients with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) and explored whether it produced more predictive value than LDL-C and TG.

Methods: Data were derived from the Third China National Stroke Registry (CNSR-III). Multivariable Cox regression for stroke recurrence, composite vascular events and all-cause death and logistic regression for the poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 3–6) were used.

Results: A total of 14123 patients were included. After adjusting for confounding factors, quartile 4 of LDL-C/TG ratio was associated with an increased risk of recurrent stroke (hazard ratio [HR], 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–1.56), composite vascular events (HR,1.23; 95% CI, 1.00–1.52), death (HR,1.70; 95% CI, 1.13–2.54) and poor functional outcome (odds ratio, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.12–1.61) at 3 months follow-up compared with quartile 1. We also found that quartile 4 of LDL-C and TG was positively and negatively associated with poor functional outcome at 3 months, respectively. LDL-C/TG ratio performed better than LDL-C or TG in predicting clinical outcomes.

Conclusions: LDL-C/TG ratio was associated with the risk of stroke recurrence, composite vascular events, death and poor functional outcome in patients with AIS or TIA.