Among patients with ischemic stroke and diabetes, A1C was associated with risks for composite vascular events, according to a study published in Neurology. Researchers found that 1,437 of 18,567 patients developed composite vascular events during follow-up. Using A1C as a categorical variable significantly increased risk at a threshold of 6.8% to 7.0% in a multivariable analysis. Among those in whom fasting glucose at admission was 130 mg/dL or less, the influence of admission A1C level on the risk for composite vascular events was particularly pronounced. For composite vascular events, the optimal ranges of A1C associated with minimum cardiovascular risk were lowest for small vessel occlusion versus large artery atherosclerosis and cardioembolism (6.6%, 7.3%, 7.4%, respectively).
