Body temperature and prognosis in patients with massive hemispheric infarction in acute phase

Abstract

Objective To investigate the correlation between the body temperature and the prognosis in patients with massive hemispheric infarction in acute phase （within 7 days after the onset）. Methods 1he temperatures of 102 patients with massive hemispheric infarction were observed dynamically. the correlation between the temperatures of the two time periodswithin 48 hours and from 72 hours to 7 days （normal temperature, mild increased temperature, and significantly increased temperature） and the prognosis were analyzed. The evaluation time of the prognosis was at 3 months after the symptom onset. The evaluation indicators were the mortality and the modified Ranldn Score （mRS） scales. Results Both the mild increased temperature （OR = 1.45, 95% CI 0.63 to 3.32） and the significantly increased temperature （OR =7.70, 95% CI 0.95 to 62.40） increased the risks of death within 48 hours, however, they did not reach statistical significance; the mild increased temperature （OR =2.74, 95% CI 1.05 to 7.13; P = 0.04） significantly increased the risk of the poor functional outcome at 3 months （mRS scores 5 to 6）, while the significantly increased temperature was not so （OR = 4.58, 95% CI 0.56 to 37.4）. The temperatures increased slightly （OR=3.39, 95% CI 1.33 to 8.61, P =0.01） and significantly （OR =7.64, 95% CI 2.10 to 27.68, P =0. 0.02） from 72 hours to 7 days after the symptom onset were only associated with the increased risks of death, and were not associated with the poor functional outcomes. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that both the mild （OR =3.15, 95% CI 1.28 to 8.09, P = 0.02） or significantly （OR =7.20, 95% CI 2.03 to 25.12, P =0.01） increased temperature from 72 hour to 7 days during the symptom onset were significantly increased the risk of death at 3 months. Conclusions The increased temperature in patients with massive hemispheric infarction in acute phase is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis. Active measures of decreasing temperature should be taken within 7 days of the onset in order to maintain a normal temperature range. Key words: cerebral infarction; body temperature; prognosis