Is low total cholesterol associated with primary intracerebral hemorrhage in Bangladeshi population?

Background: This study was carried out to see the association of the low total cholesterol level with primary Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) in Bangladeshi population. Materials and Methods: This was a case–control study carried out in the department of Neurology, Chittagong Medical College and Hospital from January 2013 to December 2013. Total of 132 patients were enrolled where 67 patients of hemorrhagic stroke were in the experimental group and 65 age and sex matched persons were in the control group. Low total cholesterol was designated as level less than 200mg/dl. Data were analyzed and compared by SPSS version 19. Results:The proportion of ICH patients with low total cholesterol was significantly higher than the controls (74.6% vs. 32.3%). Mean total cholesterol was also significantly low in ICH patients compared with controls (180 mg/dL vs. 217 mg/dl; P-value = 0.001). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and triglycerides were also significantly low in ICH patients compared with controls. Mean LDL-c in the ICH patient group was 106 mg/dL, whereas it was 128.5 mg/dL in the control group (P-value = 0.001). There was no significant difference in the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in both groups. Although lower mean cholesterol was seen in both young and older individuals in the ICH group than in controls, the difference was significant only in the older group (age >60 years). In multivariate analysis, odds ratio of low cholesterol in the hemorrhage cases was 6.03 (95% CI = 2.1–16.059) which was adjusted other risk factors of hemorrhagic stroke. Conclusions: The inference of this study is that, there is an increased risk of primary ICH associated with low total cholesterol, especially in older individuals. Bangladesh Crit Care J March 2018; 6(1): 26-30