Functional outcome after ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage from two national cohorts

It is widely assumed that outcome is worse after intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) compared with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS), but there is a lack of contemporary data to confirm or refute this assumption or explain any differences.

In this large observational study pooling individual data of 111 038 patients from two national stroke registries from high-income countries with universal healthcare access, ICH was associated with poorer outcome at 3 months compared with AIS (adjusted OR for favourable functional outcome: 0.42, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.45, p<0.001).

The association was only partly mediated by higher baseline stroke severity and the availability of recanalisation therapies for AIS.

Half of the effect remains unexplained by measures of stroke severity and is potentially attributable to overall care limitations in patients with ICH.

This study highlights key differences in outcomes...