Frequency of Normal Low Density Lipoprotein Level in Stroke Patients

Background: Stroke remains a major cause of death and the main cause of severe disability. Various risk factors for stroke include LDL levels. The paradox of a high stroke incidence in populations with low serum cholesterol has been reported in population-based studies. But not much work has been done in this regard. Moreover, there is no local study found in the literature. So, we conducted this study. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of normal LDL levels in patients presenting with stroke. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Medicine, Services Hospital, Lahore for six months from June to December 2018. A total of 385 cases were included in the study from emergency after written consent and blood sample were obtained in a 3cc syringe. All samples were sent to the laboratory of the hospital for assessment of LDL level. Reports were assessed and normal LDL level was labelled if the level was in the normal range. All the information was collected on proforma. All the collected data were entered and analysed into SPSS version-21. Results: The patients mean age was 51.87+10.19 years. There were 247 (64.2%) males and 138 (35.8%) females. The mean BMI of patients was 28.95+6.71kg/m2. There were 65 (16.9%) patients who had a haemorrhagic stroke while 320 (83.1%) patients had an ischemic stroke. The history of smoking was positive in 108 (28.1%) cases. Whereas diabetes was positive in 127 (33.0%) cases. The mean serum LDL level of patients was 3.63+0.82mmol/L. There were 173 (44.9%) patients with normal LDL levels while among 212 (55.1%) patients, LDL level was high. Conclusion: The frequency of normal LDL level is almost as equal as deranged LDL level in patients of stroke and patients of ischemic stroke have less chances of normal LDL level than those with haemorrhagic stroke patients