Family history of short survival in siblings after ischemic stroke (IS) was found to be linked with mortality post-IS for younger male individuals.

• A total of 1,380 Swedish born sibling pairs (2,760 cases), where both siblings were hospitalized for first-time IS between 1991 and 2010, were included in this study.

• Short sibling survival (i.e. <3 or <4 years) following IS was found to be related to an adjusted familial hazard ratio (FHR) of 1.29 and 1.24, respectively, for overall mortality post-IS.

• Only in younger persons (<62 years) and males, short sibling survival (i.e. <2—<5 years) was found to be stronger and significant.

• For short sibling survival (i.e. <4 years), the highest FHR was 1.42 and 1.50 for younger individuals and males, respectively.

• The estimated FHR was 1.80 for young males.

• Adjusted model revealed the association of mortality with gender, education, age at onset, year of diagnosis, days of hospitalization, coronary heart disease, diabetes, dementia, heart failure, obesity, alcoholism, and hyperlipidemia.