Publication:

A prospective study on urinary microalbuminuria as surrogate marker of vascular endothelial dysfunction, in patients of ischemic stroke

Background Presence of overt proteinuria has been independently linked to greater stroke risk. The objectives of this study were to determine the relationship between the for ischemic stroke and albuminurea as a marker for vascular events. Microalbuminuria, is an early marker of both kidney disease and endothelial dysfunction, may be associated with global vascular risk, but the nature and relationship between microalbuminuria and incident ischemic stroke has not been clearly defined. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of microalbuminuria and ischemic stroke.

Methods Study enrolled 150 admitted patients of acute ischemic stroke. The patients were assessed by questionnaire, microalbuminuria, creatinine clearance after detailed history taking and thorough clinical examination.

Results The combined common risk factors were HTN (80%), diabetes (33%) and smoking (53%). The hypertensive patients had 8 times higher risk of microalbuminuria as compared to normotensive patients (95% 1.8-31.0 p 0.05). The 38 patients out of 46 patients who had microalbuminuria has high normal serum creatinine with creatinine clearance (45-59 mL/min/1.73 m2. (82% versus. 4.4% 30.44 mL/min/173m2). The risk of microalbuminuria was higher in patients who had high normal serum creatinine (1.4 mg/dL) with creatinine clearance of 45-59 mL/min/1.73 m2 versus normal serum creatinine 0.8 mg/dL.

Conclusions The finding of the study, show the microalbuminuria is an independent risk factor for vascular endothelial dysfunction, in patient of diabetes early renal dysfunction and HTN, extrapolating the vascular event (ischemic stroke).