OBJECTIVETo observe the association between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level and rate of ischemic stroke recurrence.

METHODSA total of 1 059 patients with ischemic stroke were enrolled from 5 community health centers and underwent baseline surveys during the period of January 2003 to December 2006. After baseline surveys, patients were followed up every 6 months until December 31, 2008. The new stroke events were recorded as the primary study endpoint. The association between HDL-C, HDL-C/TC and ischemic stroke recurrence was analyzed by Cox regression analysis.

RESULTSThe proportions of stroke patients with high ( ≥ 1.55 mmol/L), moderate (1.04-1.54 mmol/L) and low (<1.04 mmol/L) HDL-C levels were 15.58% (165/1 059) , 54.58% (578/1 059) and 29.84% (316/1 059) respectively. During a mean of (3.21 ± 1.04) years follow-up, recurrent ischemic stroke was recorded in 137 patients. Compared with HDL-C ≥ 1.40 mmol/L group, multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that stroke recurrence rates of patients with HDL-C ≤ 1.00 mmol/L and ranged from 1.01 to 1.19 mmol/L increased by 0.944 (HR = 1.944, 95%CI:1.033-3.659, P = 0.039) and 1.027 (HR = 2.027, 95%CI:1.116-3.682, P = 0.020)fold , respectively. Recurrence rates increased 1.237 (HR = 2.237, 95%CI:1.208-4.144, P = 0.010) fold in patients with HDL-C/TC ≤ 0.19 mmol/L compared to patients with HDL-C/TC ≥ 0.28 mmol/L.

CONCLUSIONThe risk of ischemic stroke recurrence increases with decreasing HDL-C level or HDL-C/TC ratio.