In the retrospective arm of the study, the routinely collected data of patients admitted to the stroke unit with acute ischemic stroke (from 2018 till 2022) will be evaluated. In the prospective longitudinal arm, about 200-250 patients admitted to the Stroke Unit of one participating center will undergo examination including the assessment of medical records, stroke characteristics, sleep characteristics and blood sampling for the evaluation of genetic biomarkers of circadian rhythms within the first 2-3 days after admission.The assessment of stroke severity and functional deficit will be repeated at 10-14 days after stroke.~The following associations will be assessed:~the association of genetic biomarkers of circadian rhythms with stroke outcome (the difference in neurological and functional deficit from admission to 14th day after stroke), with stroke characteristics (stroke subtype and neuroimaging stroke parameters) and with sleep characteristics.~the association of sleep characteristics with stroke outcome (the difference in neurological and functional deficit from admission to 14th day after stroke) and with stroke characteristics (stroke subtype and neuroimaging stroke parameters).
The study is aimed at the investigation of the association of biomarkers of circadian rhythms with sleep characteristics and stroke outcome in acute stroke patients. It is designed as an observational cohort study with the retrospective and prospective longitudinal arms.