CRP as a potential predictor of outcome in acute ischemic stroke

Abstract

Ischemic stroke is one of the major causes of death and long-term disability worldwide. C-reactive protein (CRP) as a potential biomarker for functional outcome after acute isch-emic stroke remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between the level of CRP and functional outcome of stroke. A total of 218 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke within 24 h after onset were recruited for the study. Poor functional outcome was defined as a modified Rankin scale score of >2 at 3 months after stroke. The retrospec-tive analysis was performed to investigate whether CRP within 24 h after stroke is associated with poor functional outcome at 3 months. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the CRP level (odds ratio=1.146, 95%CI: 1.012-1.297, P=0.031) was an independent risk factor for poor outcome. The receiver operating characteristics curve analysis revealed that the optimal cut-off value of CRP to distinguish favorable from poor outcome was 6.34 (area under the curve=0.829, 95%CI: 0.772-0.887, P<0.001), with 68.2% sensitivity and 85.7% speci-ficity. Spearman correlation analysis indicated that the CRP level was positively related to the baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score (r=0.551, P<0.001), fasting glucose (r=0.301, P<0.001) and age (r=0.252, P<0.001). In conclusion, a high level of CRP within 24 h after onset was associated with a poor functional outcome after the acute ischemic event. The elevation of CRP may be correlated with the baseline NIHSS score, fasting glucose and age.