Association between atrial cardiopathy and stroke severity in acute ischemic stroke

In this hospital-based cross-sectional analytic study, we retrospectively reviewed clinical data of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) between January 2017 and April 2023. Atrial cardiopathy was defined as any presence of the following: left atrial diameter ≥ 52 mm (males) or ≥ 47 mm (females), elevated P-wave terminal force in V1 > 5000 μV ms, or serum N terminal pro B type natriuretic peptide > 250 pg/ml. Initial stroke severity was defined by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS; moderate-to-severe, ≥ 5; and severe, ≥ 15). Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between atrial cardiopathy and stroke severity. Among 662 AIS patients (mean age 70 years [interquartile range 61–78], 31.3% women), 303 (45.8%) had atrial cardiopathy. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of atrial cardiopathy was significantly associated with a higher odd of moderate-to-severe stroke (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.46–3.20, p