Patients with sepsis face an increased risk of stroke or heart attack in the first four weeks after being discharged from the hospital, a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found.
The researchers examined data on over 1 million people in Taiwan. Of those patients, 42,316 had sepsis. They estimated the risk of heart infection and stroke after sepsis by comparing a sepsis cohort to a matched population and hospital control cohort.
All sepsis patients had at least one organ dysfunction; 35 percent were in the intensive care unit; and 22 percent died within 30 days of admission.
Looking at the total group of patients with sepsis, the researchers found 1,012 had a cardiovascular event, 831 had a stroke, and 184 had a heart attack within 180 days of being released from hospital.
The researchers found the highest risk was in the first seven days after discharge, with 26 percent of heart attack or stroke cases happening in the immediate period, and 51 percent happening within 35 days.
"We found that within the first four weeks after discharge from hospital was the critical period with a markedly elevated risk of [heart attack] and stroke," the researchers concluded.