title: Serum CRP concentrations and severity of ischemic stroke subtypes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate if elevated C reactive protein (CRP) was related to the stroke severity, and to analyze its different distribution in stroke subtypes.
  
  
  METHODS
  316 patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) were enrolled and had CRP determinations; they were dichotomized as<7 or ≥7mg/L according to the previous report. 128 patients with transient ischemic attack who also had CRP measurements were selected as controls. A possible level-risk relationship between elevated CRP and NIHSS, which considered relatively severe illness as a value≥8, was studied within the AIS group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CRP was elevated in 21% of the AIS compared to 4% in the control group (p = 0.000). Within the AIS group, patients with CRP levels ≥7mg/L had a significantly increased risk of severe stroke (OR 3.33, 95% CI 1.84-6.00, p =0.00). In subtype stroke, the highest rate of elevated CRP and NIHSS were in those with cardioembolic stroke (CE) using TOAST classification, total anterior circulation infarction (TACI) of OCSP classification and large volume infarction (LVI) of Adams classification; the odds ratio(OR) between elevated CRP and NIHSS was 6.14 (95% CI 1.43-26.44) in CE, 1.714 (95% CI 1.30-2.26) in TACI, 2.32 (95% CI 1.08-4.99) in LVI, and the p value were all below 0.05.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated CRP level can reflect the severity of AIS, which was association with stroke subtype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Peoples Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Zhongyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jingwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000209:etiology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000097:blood* / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein