Cognitive impairment after first-ever ischemic stroke

Abstract

Background and aim Ischemic stroke has a good outcome because these patients usually have a good motor recovery. The aim of this work was to assess the prognostic value of the neurocognitive status to detect early cognitive dysfunction in stroke phases, evaluate outcome after first-ever ischemic stroke, and to choose proper preventive management of stroke cognitive dysfunction. Patients and methods Patients with ischemic stroke were prospectively evaluated using Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) individually and in combination with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), either at the subacute stroke phase or within 2 weeks (baseline), and modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores, for functional outcome 3 and 6 months later. Results Cognitive impairment was diagnosed at baseline in 37.5% of patients with median NIHSS=4 and median mRS=2 (P<0.001). Baseline NIHSS, MMSE, and MoCA can individually predict mRS scores at 3 and 6 months, and NIHSS is the strongest predictor. However, patients with more disability at baseline (NIHSS>2), baseline MoCA, and MMSE had a moderately large significant predictive value to the baseline NIHSS for mRS scores at 3 and 6 months. Conclusion Screening of cognitive state at the subacute stroke phase can predict functional outcome independently and improve the predictive value of stroke severity scores. And it is important to evaluate what cognition is, and the brief cognitive test may facilitate assessment in the early phases.