BACKGROUND:

Elevations in serum uric acid levels are considered a risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular conditions.

OBJECTIVE:

To analyze the relationship between high uric acid levels and the prognosis of patients with a cerebrovascular accident.

MATERIAL AND METHOD:

A retrospective cohort study performed at a single academic center. All patients with a confirmed diagnosis of cerebrovascular accident during the period between 2012 and 2016 were included in the analysis. Cohorts were segregated in patients with hyperuricemia and patients with normal serum uric acid levels.

RESULTS:

Two hundred two patients with cerebrovascular accident were analyzed, 59 patients (30%) were diagnosed with hyperuricemia, 143 (70%) were used as a control group. On a comparative analysis, mortality rates were 7.3% (n = 10) on hyperuricemia group vs 5% (n = 3) in the control group (p = 0.056). Significant differences were found on serum cholesterol levels (p = 0.028), uric acid (p ≤ 0.0001), glucose (p = 0.02), creatinine (p = 0.004) and triglycerides levels (p = 0.01) between cohorts. After controlling for potential confusing factors, there wasn’t found an association between the increase in serum uric acid levels and the odds of mortality (OR 2.098, IC95% 0.47-9.332, p = 0.3304).

CONCLUSIONS:

This study demonstrates that inpatients diagnosed with a cerebrovascular accident mortality rates are not associated with hyperuricemia or increasing levels of serum uric acid.