ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Stroke
Association Between Serum Potassium Levels and Haematoma Expansion in Intracerebral Haemorrhage: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Rong Wu 1,2
Min Jiang 2
Bing Bao 3
Qi Li 4
Meili Shen 1,2
Xiaoping Yin 3
Jian Wang 5
Moxin Wu 1,2
1. Department of Medical Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital of Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, China
2. Jiujiang Clinical Precision Medicine Research Center, Jiujiang, China
3. Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, China
4. The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui, China
5. Zhengzhou University School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou, China
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Abstract
Objective: Serum potassium levels are risk factors for intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), and haematoma expansion (HE) is an important determinant of poor prognosis in patients with ICH. This study investigated the correlation between serum potassium levels and HE after ICH. Materials and methods: This retrospective study analysed serum potassium levels in ICH patients. On the basis of imaging criteria (haematoma volume increase ≥33% or absolute enlargement >6 mL), patients were categorized into the HE subgroup. Differences in serum potassium levels were compared using the Mann‒Whitney U test. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to balance baseline characteristics between the HE subgroup and the non-HE subgroup for further comparison. Additionally, adjusted logistic regression analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to evaluate the correlation between HE and serum potassium levels. Results: A total of 310 patients with ICH were identified, of whom 50 (16.1%) had HE. After PSM, patients in the HE subgroup presented lower potassium levels than non-HE patients did (3.71 ± 0.52 vs. 3.92 ± 0.52, p = 0.009). Low serum potassium levels were significantly associated with HE (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.15–0.80; p = 0.017), with an AUC value of 0.635. Conclusion: Low serum baseline potassium levels are associated with a higher risk of HE after ICH. The relevance of serum potassium levels to severity after ICH is emphasized.
Summary
Keywords
cerebral haemorrhage, haematoma expansion, Neuroscience, Potassium, Stroke
Received
19 September 2025
Accepted
20 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Wu, Jiang, Bao, Li, Shen, Yin, Wang and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Xiaoping Yin; Jian Wang; Moxin Wu
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