Uric acid and plasma lipids in cerebrovascular disease. I. Prevalence of hyperuricaemia.

Serum uric acid levels measured by the phosphotungstic sodium cyanide method have been estimated in 60 patients suffering from a cerebrovascular incident. Patients with diseases known to predispose to hyperuricaemia were excluded. Twenty-five per cent. of patients with acute strokes had hyperuricaemia, and this did not appear to be a transitory phenomenon. These findings suggest that hyperuricaemia may be one of the factors in the pathogenesis of atheroma.