Publication:

Clinical evaluation of association between high sensitivity C-reactive protein and stroke

Background Stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and long term disability all over the world. In this scenario, the present hospital based study was undertaken to study the elevation of hsCRP level in cases of ischemic and hemorrhagic, as an inflammatory marker and to assess the association of hsCRP with stroke and its common risk factors like hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia.

Methods The study was conducted for a period of one year from 2011 to 2012 in 50 cases of stroke from the OPD, emergency and indoor wards of the hospital. 50 controls were also taken for valid comparison. The plasma hsCRP level of all patients was measured using the immunoturbidimetric method. The statistical analysis was done by SPSS v12.0 and EPI-info version 6.0. The baseline comparability was assessed using Pearson’s chi-square/t-test and the comparison between the groups was done by ANOVA.

Results In the present study out of 50 stroke patients, 35 were of ischemic stroke and 15 were of hemorrhagic stroke. There was a significant (p< 0.05) elevation in both the cases of stroke and the mean hsCRP level was found to be 8.32±6.60 mg/dl. Further, there was no significant association was found between level of hsCRP in stroke case and hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes respectively. Furthermore, the poor GCS score was <8 in both the cases of stroke with the high level of hsCRP and the hsCRP level was elevated in non survivors as that of the survivors in both the stroke cases.

Conclusions Thus, from the study the hs-CRP level was increased in stroke ischemic as well as hemorrhagic, suggesting an inflammatory response in acute stroke.