The effect of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on the prognosis of patients with acute cerebral infarction

Objective To observe the effect of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on the prognosis of patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods A total of 60 acute cerebral infarction patients were diagnosed by CT or MRI. According to whether the patients were suffering from COPD or not, they were divided into COPD group (N = 30) or control group (N = 30). The neurological deficit was evaluated by National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and the ability of daily life was evaluated by Barthel Index (BI) on patients in both groups at admission, and 14 and 28 d after treatment. The prognosis of patients was evaluated and compared between 2 groups. Results There were no significant differences between 2 groups in the general data, NIHSS and BI scores before treatment (P > 0.05, for all). After 14 d of treatment, the NIHSS score (9.47 ± 3.43) was slightly higher, BI score (33.83 ± 15.68) was slightly lower in COPD group, but compared with those in control group (NIHSS score: 8.37 ± 3.50, BI score: 37.83 ± 17.25), there were no significant differences (P = 0.224, 0.351, respectively). After 28 d of treatment, the NIHSS score in COPD group (6.93 ± 2.59) was significantly higher than that in control group (5.43 ± 2.13, P = 0.017), and BI score in COPD group (54.00 ± 15.45) was significantly lower than that in control group (65.67 ± 16.33, P = 0.006). Conclusions The prognosis of patients with acute cerebral infarction was affected by COPD, which may be related to the existence of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress in COPD patients. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2015.11.015