Mild Hypokalemia and Supraventricular Ectopy Increases the Risk of Stroke in Community-Dwelling Subjects [Clinical Sciences]

Background and Purpose—Stroke is independently associated with the common conditions of hypokalemia and supraventricular ectopy, and we hypothesize that the combination of excessive supraventricular ectopic activity and hypokalemia has a synergistic impact on the prognosis in terms of stroke in the general population.Methods—Subjects (55–75 years old) from the Copenhagen Holter Study cohort (N=671) with no history of atrial fibrillation or stroke were studied—including baseline values of potassium and ambulatory 48-hour Holter monitoring. Excessive supraventricular ectopic activity is defined as ≥30 premature atrial complexes per hour or any episodes of runs of ≥20. Hypokalemia was defined as plasma-potassium ≤3.6 mmol/L. The primary end point was ischemic stroke. Cox models were used.Results—Hypokalemia was mild (mean, 3.4 mmol/L; range, 2.7–3.6). Hypokalemic subjects were older (67.0±6.94 versus 64.0±6.66 years; P

Source: Stroke - February 26, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Nick Mattsson, Preman Kumarathurai, Bȷorn Stroier Larsen, Olav Wendelboe Nielsen, Ahmad Saȷadieh Tags: Arrhythmias, ACE/Angiotensin Receptors/Renin Angiotensin System, Epidemiology, Cerebrovascular Disease/Stroke Original Contributions Source Type: research