Primary autoimmune haemolytic anaemia is associated with increased risk of ischaemic stroke: A binational cohort study from Denmark and France

Abstract

Primary autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) causes the destruction of red blood cells and a subsequent pro-thrombotic state, potentially increasing the risk of ischaemic stroke. We investigated the risk of ischaemic stroke in patients with AIHA in a binational study. We used prospectively collected data from nationwide registers in Denmark and France to identify cohorts of patients with primary AIHA and age- and sex-matched general population comparators. We followed the patient and comparison cohorts for up to 5 years, with the first hospitalization of a stroke during follow-up as the main outcome. We estimated cumulative incidence, cause-specific hazard ratios (csHR) and adjusted for comorbidity and exposure to selected medications. The combined AIHA cohorts from both countries comprised 5994 patients and the 81 525 comparators. There were 130 ischaemic strokes in the AIHA cohort and 1821 among the comparators. Country-specific estimates were comparable, and the overall adjusted csHR was 1.36 [95% CI: 1.13–1.65], p = 0.001; the higher rate was limited to the first year after AIHA diagnosis (csHR 2.29 [95% CI: 1.77–2.97], p < 10−9) and decreased thereafter (csHR 0.89 [95% CI: 0.66–1.20], p = 0.45) (p-interaction < 10−5). The findings indicate that patients diagnosed with primary AIHA are at higher risk of ischaemic stroke in the first year after diagnosis.