VIDEO: Head injury linked to 34% increased risk for ischemic stroke

PHILADELPHIA — Individuals who sustained a head injury had a 34% higher risk for suffering ischemic stroke than those who did not have a head injury, according to an expert at the American Neurological Association annual meeting.

“Our results motivate future research on this important association and argue for the prevention of stroke in this population of people with prior head injuries,” Holly Elser, MD, PhD, a neurology resident at the University of Pennsylvania, said in this Healio video.

Elser and colleagues examined the records of almost 12,000 individuals from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, an ongoing prospective cohort study since the late 1980s. Their analysis focused on 11,833 individuals with no prior history of either head injury or stroke (median age 54 years; 59.6% female). A total of 1,973 individuals sustained at least one head injury during the study follow-up, which was either self-reported or diagnosed according to ICD 9-10 codes. Stroke incidence was logged by semi-annual phone calls to participants as well as community surveillance of patient hospitalizations.

Elser and colleagues also found a stronger correlation of stroke risk in those who sustained multiple head injuries compared with those who suffered one or none, but data showed no significant differences by severity of head injury.