Propose: To investigate the clinical characteristics and potential risk factors of the first onset of cerebral hemorrhage in patients with occult malignant tumors.
Patients and methods: In this retrospective study, 23 patients with occult malignant tumors with the first onset of cerebral hemorrhage were enrolled in the tumor group, and 92 patients without occult tumors in the same period were enrolled in the control group. There were no statistical differences in age and sex between both groups by propensity score matching. Collected clinical data included age, sex, smoking history, drinking history, hypertension history, diabetes history, past medical history, routine blood tests, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), liver and kidney function, fasting blood glucose level, coagulation function, tumor markers, imaging examinations, National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) score on admission, modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score 90 days after intracerebral hemorrhage and final mRS score.
Results: Compared with the control group, the tumor group had fewer patients with hypertension (52.2% vs 81.5%, P < 0.05), and the NLR was significantly decreased in the tumor group (2.74 vs 5.46, P < 0.05). The tumor group had a greater number of patients with the bleeding sites located in the lobar regions (43.5% vs.19.6%, P < 0.05) and a higher coagulation dysfunction (52.2% vs 29.3%, P < 0.05) than the control group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that no history of hypertension (OR: 3.141, 95% CI: 1.107– 8.916), lobar cerebral hemorrhage (OR: 3.465 95% CI:1.172– 10.243), and coagulation dysfunction (OR: 3.176, 95% CI: 1.131– 8.913) were independent predictors of occult tumors, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the area under the curve of the three-index combined diagnosis was 0.748, C-statistic analysis also showed the same result.
Conclusion: No history of hypertension, lobar cerebral hemorrhage, and coagulation dysfunction may be predictors of the risk of occult malignancies in patients with cerebral hemorrhage.
Keywords: cerebral hemorrhage, clinical features, malignant tumor, risk factors