The aim of our study is to evaluate the impact of anemia at the presentation on stroke mortality and morbidity.

Anemia in the setting of reduced perfusion can theoretically exacerbate brain ischemia. While anemia is being increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor for stroke, the impact of anemia on stroke mortality and morbidity at discharge remains controversial.

We performed a retrospective chart review of patients with a diagnosis of an acute stroke from November 2014 to September 2015 at University Hospital, Newark. Patients included in the study had NIHSS and Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) scores documented on admission and near discharge from the hospital respectively. Patient given intravenous alteplase and patients with hemorrhagic strokes were excluded. Anemia was considered a categorical variable with a cutoff point of hemoglobin <12.0 g/dL in women and <13.0 g/dL in men, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). Mortality was considered a categorical variable. MRS scores and NIHSS scores were dichotomous categorical variables with cut off points at >1 and <15 respectively. A chi-square test was used to compare variables.

131 patients met the inclusion criteria. 46.6% were males. The mean hemoglobin level was 13.28±1.98 g/dL. 22.95% males and 27.14% females had anemia according to WHO definition. The mean hemoglobin level was 13.94±1.79 g/dL in males and 12.70±1.95 g/dL in females. In our cohort, anemia on presentation was not significantly associated with discharge MRS>1 (OR, 1.31; 95% Cl, 0.40-4.27; P 0.449), presenting NIHSS<15 (OR, 1.92; 95% Cl, 0.72-5.10; P 0.186) or mortality (OR, 0.66; 95% Cl, 0.13-3.21; P 0.602).