Clinical features of cognitive impairment before ischemic stroke in elderly non-valvular AF patients

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-0126.2017.04.007

Abstract：Objective To study the clinical features of cognitive impairment before ischemic stroke in elderly non-valvular AF patients and the effect of AF on their cognitive function.Methods Five hundred and forty elderly AIS patients were divided into AF group (n =87) and control group (n=453).Their demographic data were collected.The patients were scored according to the MMSE,NIHSS,and IQCODE on admission and 2 days after admission.Results Of the 540 AIS patients,77 (14.3％) were diagnosed with cognitive impairment and 9 (1.7％) with dementia before ischemic stroke.The age was significantly older,the incidence of DM and vascular disease was significantly higher,the use of anticoagulant drugs was much more,the NIHSS and IQCODE scores were significantly higher,the ratio of IQCODE score≥3.44 and ≥4 was significantly high-er while the use of antiplatelet drugs was much less and the MMSE score was significantly lower in AF group than in control group (P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age,AF and DM were the risk factors for cognitive impairment before ischemic stroke in AF patients (OR=1.144,95 ％CI:1.039-1.259,P=0.006;OR=6.843,95 ％CI:1.936-24.195,P=0.003).Conclusion Cognitive impairment occurred before ischemic stroke in AF patients exacerbates with the increasing age.AF is an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment in elderly AIS patients,importance should thus be attached to its assessment.