Abstract
In a prospective observational study of haemoglobin (Hb) values of Saudi nationals presenting to Assir Central Hospital, Abha (altitude 2500m) with first-ever acute cerebral infarction, the mean Hb concentration and the proportion of patients with subcortical infarct (SCI) who had Hb values of 14.5g/dl or greater (high normal Hb group), were compared with those of cortical infarct (COI) patients and controls. Thirty-six (22.8%) of 158 patients had SCI and 122 had COI. The mean Hb of SCI patients was 15.2g/dl compared with 14.7g/dl for age and sex matched controls (p = 0.16; NS) and 14.5 g/dl for COI patients (p = 0.10; NS). However, a significantly greater proportion of SCI patients (72%) had high normal Hb values compared with 51% of COI patients (p = 0.02). The difference between the proportion of SCI patients (72%) who had high normal Hb and that of controls (64%) was not significant (p = 0.58). There was a small but significantly increased risk of experiencing SCI as against COI if a patient's Hb value was in the high normal range (odds ratio 2.5; 95% Confidence Interval 1.1 to 5.7 for combined male and female data and 3.8; 95% CI, 1.02 to 13.77 for male patients).