Serum calcium levels at admission is associated with the outcomes in patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Hypertensive spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH) cause significant morbidity and mortality. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between calcium level at admission and outcome in hypertensive ICH patients. METHODS: 658 hypertensive ICH patients were enrolled from January 2012 to January 2016 in this retrospective study, and demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiographic, and outcome data were collected. The associations between serum calcium level and initial hematoma volume, hematoma enlargement and functional outcome were assessed. RESULTS: Lower calcium level at admission was associated with larger initial hematoma volumes, baseline NIHSS and mRSscore (p < .05), but not with platelet count, activated partial thromboplastin time and international normalized ratio on admission (p > .05). For outcome assessment, 30 days mortality and 6 months mRS were adjusted for age, gender and time from onset to admission, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, history of hypertension, baseline NIHSS score, Baseline mRS score and hematoma position, lower calcium level at admission was associated with worse outcomes. CONCLUSION: Low calcium level at admission is associated with worse outcome and might be a prognostic factor for acute ICH.