Mitchell EA et al. – There is a need for greater vigilance in the detection of hyperglycaemia and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus among patients admitted to hospital with stroke or transient ischaemic attack.

Methods

• The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study involving a review of the records of 112 patients consecutively admitted with acute stroke or transient ischaemic attack to all three district general hospitals in one Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland from 1 January to 15 April 2008.
• Glucose results for each of the first 5 days of hospital admission were ascertained.
• They compared interventions, clinical outcome and discharge planning between patients who experienced glucose ≥ 7.8 mmol/l in the first 5 days, and patients with lower glucose results.

Results