Table 1 Characteristics of the four groups (N = 1219, 1055 ischemic and 164 hemorrhagic strokes)

General characteristics

 Blood glucose (mmol/l)

4.89 [4.39–5.50]

7.44 [7.17–8.00]

5.83 [5.11–6.33]^d0

9.44 [8.11–11.67]^d1

–

 In-hospital insulin treatment

17 (1.9)

7 (9.6)^d0

58 (57.4)^d0d1

131 (81.4)^d0d1d2

< 0.0001

 HbA1c (%)

–

5.9 [5.6–6.2]

6.8 [6.3–7.4]

7.6 [6.9–8.5]^d2

–

 Age (years)

73.7 ± 13.7

73.2 ± 12.8

74.2 ± 10.6

73.5 ± 10.7

0.97

 Male sex

427 (48.3)

41 (56.2)

57 (56.4)

99 (61.5)^b0

0.009

 Hypertension

730 (82.6)

64 (87.7)

94 (93.1)^b0

147 (91.3)^b0

0.002

 Hypercholesterolemia

567 (64.1)

40 (54.8)

66 (65.3)

98 (60.9)

0.37

 Hypertriglyceridemia

60 (6.8)

9 (12.3)

14 (13.9)^b0

36 (22.4)^d0

< 0.0001

 HDL Hypocholesterolemia

113 (12.8)

13 (17.8)

20 (19.8)^a0

40 (24.8)^d0

0.0005

 Ever smoker

365 (41.3)

31 (42.5)

49 (48.5)

71 (44.1)

0.54

 Alcohol drinker

155 (17.5)

14 (19.2)

14 (13.9)

21 (13.0)

0.41

 Carotid stenosis ≥ 50%*

232 (30.6)

26 (43.3)

45 (48.9)^c0a3

48 (33.3)

0.002

 Atrial fibrillation

277 (31.3)

31 (42.5)^a0a3

36 (35.6)

45 (28.0)

0.13

 Chronic kidney disease

79 (8.9)

8 (11.0)

14 (13.9)

30 (18.6)^c0

0.002

 Previous myocardial infarction

95 (10.7)

12 (16.4)

26 (25.7)^d0

36 (22.4)^d0

< 0.0001

 Previous stroke

112 (12.7)

14 (19.2)^a3

23 (22.8)^b0b3

15 (9.3)

0.006

 Peripheral artery disease

39 (4.4)

4 (5.5)

14 (13.9)^d0

15 (9.3)^b0

0.0004

 Previous arterial revascularizations

65 (7.4)

12 (16.4)^b0

19 (18.8)^d0

23 (14.3)^b0

< 0.0001

 TOAST classification*

  Large artery

125 (16.5)

10 (16.7)

22 (23.9)

25 (17.4)

0.36

  Cardioembolism

228 (30.0)

22 (36.7)

26 (28.3)

40 (27.8)

0.63

  Small artery

136 (17.9)^a1

4 (6.7)

15 (16.3)

44 (30.6)^c0c1b2

0.0002

  Other determined

22 (2.9)

3 (5.0)

4 (4.3)

2 (1.4)

0.43

  Undetermined

248 (32.7)

21 (35.0)

25 (27.2)

33 (22.9)

0.09

  i.v. Thrombolysis*

135 (17.8)

9 (15.0)

14 (15.2)

14 (9.7)^a0

0.11

Stroke severity indicators

 NIHSS score

7 [3–14]

12 [6–18]^d0c2a3

6 [3–14]

8 [4–14]^a0

< 0.0001

 Cerebral lesion diameter (cm)

2.7 [1.1–4.7]

4.2 [1.8–6.7]^d0c2a3

2.3 [0.9–4.6]

2.4 [0.9–4.9]

0.005

 OCSP classification*

  LACS

171 (22.5)

4 (6.7)^a0b2b3

24 (26.1)

37 (25.7)

0.02

  PACS

305 (40.2)

27 (45.0)

36 (39.1)

44 (30.6)

0.13

  TACS

163 (21.5)

22 (36.6)^b0

22 (23.9)

35 (24.3)

0.06

  POCS

120 (15.8)

7 (11.7)

10 (10.9)

28 (19.4)

0.27

 Hemorrhagic stroke

125 (14.1)

13 (17.8)

9 (8.9)

17 (10.6)

0.21

  “Typical” deep location

81 (64.8)

6 (46.2)

6 (66.7)

13 (76.5)

0.39

  “Atypical” lobar location

44 (35.2)

7 (53.8)

3 (33.3)

4 (23.5)

0.39

Acute phase markers

 Leukocytes (10⁹/l)

8.26 [6.77–10.16]

9.95 [8.11–12.71]^d0c2a3

8.43 [6.88–10.31]

9.43 [7.46–11.16]^c0

< 0.0001

 C-reactive protein (mg/dl)

0.77 [0.29–2.52]

1.72 [0.65–4.51]^c0c2c3

0.63 [0.32–2.22]

0.82 [0.35–2.35]

0.002

 Fever

250 (28.3)

35 (47.9)^c0a2a3

32 (31.7)

59 (36.6)

0.002

Outcomes

 Modified Rankin scale ≥ 3

624 (70.6)

62 (84.9)^b0b2

69 (68.3)

131 (81.4)^b0a2

0.002

 Death

48 (5.4)

10 (13.7)^b0

8 (7.9)

25 (15.5)^d0

< 0.0001

 Cerebral edema

317 (35.9)

42 (57.5)^c0d2c3

29 (28.7)

61 (37.9)

0.0008

 Hemorrhagic transformation*

139 (18.3)

25 (41.7)^d0b2c3

18 (19.6)

26 (18.1)

0.0002

 Fever

250 (28.3)

35 (47.9)^c0a2a3

32 (31.7)

59 (36.6)

0.002

 Oxygen administration

187 (21.2)

30 (41.1)^d0b2

23 (22.8)

53 (32.9)^c0

< 0.0001

 Pneumonia

41 (4.6)

8 (11.0)^a0

6 (5.9)

7 (4.3)

0.12

 Sepsis

26 (2.9)

5 (6.8)

5 (5.0)

7 (4.3)

0.24

 Urinary infection

82 (9.3)

6 (8.2)

8 (7.9)

8 (5.0)

0.35

 Heart failure

48 (5.4)

8 (11.0)^a0

7 (6.9)

11 (6.8)

0.26