Incidence of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in our clinic

Chronic ischemic heart disease, which is among the main causes of death in Turkey and all around the world, leads to a decrease in quality of life and causes long-term medication as a chronic disease. Percutaneous coronary intervention, which is one of the interventional methods applied in the treatment of coronary heart disease, has very successful results. However, patients need to use some medications after PCI. The main of these drugs are drugs known as blood thinners. These drugs can reduce the viscosity of the blood and cause various complications, especially bleeding. Complications of PCI itself and subsequent drugs are very important. One of these complications is a stroke, which is also called cerebrovascular accident, is seen due to bleeding or blockage in the brain vessels, resulting in stroke in the long term. In this study, the development of stroke as a devastating complication in patients with PCI, in the period after the procedure, is discussed. Patients were followed up after the PCI procedure and patients who developed stroke (both hemorrhagic and ischemic) were identified and analyzed. Thus, it is aimed to determine what can be done to identify and prevent possible risk factors in these patients. This study has retrospective nature. A total of 3,811 patients who applied to the Cardiology Clinic of Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, Dursun Odabaş Medical Center between November 2016 and September 2019 and underwent PCI for all reasons (elective and emergency) were included. The records of these patients were scanned retrospectively and patients who had a diagnosis of stroke with tomography and / or MRI in the post-PCI period were identified. Demographics and laboratory data obtained from the records of these patients were statistically analyzed. According to our data, 49 (1.3%) of 3.758 patients who underwent PCI developed a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) in the post-procedure period. Ischemic stroke (infarct) was detected in 43 (87.8%) of 49 patients, while hemorrhagic stroke was detected in 6 patients (12.2%). After the procedure applied to the patients, the average time to develop CVA was 115.88 days and the average LVEF was recorded as % 43.88. It was determined that patients who developed SVO were older than those who did not, and the count of white blood cells (WBC), blood urea levels, creatinine levels, and blood glucose levels were significantly higher than those without SVO. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of xi blood lipid parameters and other values. In particular, age and high creatinine values were determined as independent risk factors for the development of SVO. In conclusion, stroke seen in a small portion of patients undergoing PCI may have deleterious effects. Therefore, it is important to identify risk factors that may be predictive of stroke and take precautions for them. Confirming these data with future studies and identifying other risk factors that may be important in predicting stroke in patients with PCI will contribute to the minimalization of this devastating complication and its negative consequences.