Abstract
BACKGROUND: The effect of atrial fibrillation (AF) patterns and clinical biomarkers among patients with AF-related stroke is still controversial. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to determine the association of the pattern of AF and markers on routine blood tests with the outcome of patients after an AF-related stroke. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with stroke and AF admitted in a tertiary hospital in Cebu City from 2015-2022. Patients' baseline characteristics, laboratory tests, ECG, and radiologic data were collected. Descriptive statistics such as mean and frequency were computed. The Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test were used to calculate the incidence time. The Cox regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with survival. A stepwise regression technique was used in model building. RESULTS: The mortality rate of patients with AF-related stroke was 0.02. A Kaplan Meier survival estimate shows that patients with paroxysmal AF have better survival. Upon model building of variables, age, red cell distribution width (RDW), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet count, low density lipid cholesterol (LDL-C), and pattern of AF were predictive of mortality in patients with AF-related stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Among AF-related stroke patients admitted at a tertiary hospital in Cebu City, pattern of AF, age, RDW, NLR, platelet count, and LDL-C were associated with mortality. The parameters associated with increased mortality could be easily assessed using an ECG, CBC, and lipid profile. These are all readily available and cost-efficient.