medwireNews: Women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are more likely to experience adverse outcomes following stroke than those without, research suggests.
These findings “imply that primary stroke prevention is of utmost importance” in this patient population, and suggest that “there might be a need to explore more effective and targeted treatment strategies,” presenting author Sona Jesenakova (University of Aberdeen, UK) told delegates at the British Society for Rheumatology 2022 Annual Conference in Glasgow, UK.
In their multivariable analysis of 1,581,430 people who were hospitalized for acute ischemic (89%) or hemorrhagic (11%) stroke and included in the US National Inpatient Sample database between 2015 and 2018, the researchers found that the 6110 women with SLE had a significant 20% higher likelihood of requiring hospital admission for more than 4 days than the 1,574,380 patients without SLE. They also had a significant 28% lower likelihood of being routinely discharged home.
These associations were not seen for men, but Jesenakova cautioned that the findings “need to be interpreted with caution” due to the small number of men with SLE who were included in the study (n=940).
The team also evaluated receipt of intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular thrombectomy in patients with ischemic stroke, finding that utilization of these revascularization therapies was similar in people with versus without SLE.
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