Concomitant coronary artery disease among Asian ischaemic stroke patients

ABSTRACT

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death following ischaemic stroke. We aimed to study the prevalence and associations of concomitant CAD among ischaemic stroke patients in Singapore.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>We prospectively studied 2686 consecutive Asian ischaemic stroke patients.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>CAD was prevalent among 24% of the study patients. Older age, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, atrial fibrillation, large stroke and South Asian ethnicity were independently associated with CAD.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The variables found to be associated with CAD are known atherosclerotic risk factors (older age, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia) or associations of cardioembolic stroke (atrial fibrillation, large stroke). The over-representation of South Asians with concomitant CAD is consistent with the high burden of CAD in this ethnic group.</p>