Thirdly, as LVSD in this study was taken to be LVEF < 50%, other baseline patient information that was unavailable, including further details of patients’ comorbidities, subtype of stroke etiology and cardiac functional status such as New York Heart Association class, NT Pro-BNP biomarker and baseline medications, would have been useful to fully evaluate whether HF contributed to poorer functional outcomes. This evidence concerns the gene NPPB and stroke disorder.