High Sensitive C- Reactive Protein (HsCRP): A Simplistic Biomarker of Stroke Severity

Background and Introduction:Stroke has become an important cause of death as well as disability across the globe. Though the diagnosis of stroke is based on clinical evaluation and imaging, there is need to find biomarkers that can aid in diagnosis,prognosis and overall management of stroke.Aims& Objectives: 1. To estimate HsCRP level in stroke patients and to correlate it with severity of stroke.2. To compare the HsCRP level of ischemic with that of hemorrhagic stroke.Materials and Methods:This was a prospective clinical study with 50 consecutive patients of acute stroke, admitted to PMCH, Udaipur. Fifty age and sex matched healthy persons were included as controls.Twenty-five patients with ischemic and 25 with hemorrhagic stroke were considered in this study. The severity of stroke was assessed clinically using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). The estimation of serum HsCRP level was done by immunoturbidimetry on Roche analyser.Results and Conclusion:The level of HsCRP was found to be higher in stroke patients as compared to the controls and higher in hemorrhagic than the ischemic stroke(p<0.05). Moderate correlation was found between HsCRP levels and with stroke severity(r=0.49). The ROC curve analyses showed that the patients with severe clinical presentation had higher HsCRP concentrations (>6mg/dl). Thus,assessment of HsCRP level can complement clinical evaluation of stroke and prediction of severity of stroke.