Higher admission fasting plasma glucose levels are associated with a poorer short-term neurologic outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients with good collateral circulation

In this retrospective study, we sought to delineate the collateral circulation status of acute ischemic stroke patients by CT perfusion and evaluate 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores of patients with good or poor collaterals and its correlation with admission fasting plasma glucose (FPG). We enrolled acute ischemic stroke patients who presented to our hospital 4.5 h within an onset of the first episode between January 2009 and December 2015. Neurological assessment was performed using the 90-day mRS scores (0-2 for a favorable and 3-6 for an unfavorable neurologic outcome). Relative filling time delay (rFTD) was evaluated by CT perfusion scan. The primary outcomes were 90-day mRS scores stratified by good (rFTD ae 4 s) versus poor collateral circulation (rFTD > 4 s). Totally 270 patients were included, and 139 (51.5%) patients achieved a favorable neurologic outcome. One hundred eighty-five (68.5%) patients had good collateral circulation. Significantly greater portions of patients with good collateral circulation (60.5%, 112/185) achieved a favorable neurologic outcome compared to those with poor collateral circulation (31.8%, 27/85) (P < 0.05). Patients with good collateral circulation achieving a favorable neurologic outcome had significantly lower baseline FPG (6.6 +/- 1.96) than those with good collateral circulation achieving an unfavorable neurologic outcome (8.12 +/- 4.02; P = 0.002). Spearman correlation analysis showed that rFTD significantly correlated with 90-day mRS scores (adjusted r = 0.258; P < 0.001) and admission FPG (r = 0.286; P < 0.001). Higher admission FPG levels are associated with significantly higher rates of unfavorable neurologic outcome of acute ischemic stroke patients with good collateral circulation. FPG and rFTD may serve as useful predictors of short-term patient outcome and could be used for risk stratification in clinical decision making.