title: Is the serum ferritin level a considerable predictor for hemorrhagic transformation of ischemic stroke?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hemorrhagic Transformation (HT) of Ischemic Stroke (IS) is a detrimental complication. This study investigated the association between serum ferritin level and HT in patients with massive IS of middle cerebral artery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty patients with massive IS of middle cerebral artery were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. They were divided into two groups based on the serum ferritin level, lower or greater than 164.1ng/ml at the first 24 hours after admission. To investigate the incidence of HT in the two groups, we observed them for two weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the two- week observation, the incidence of HT was two persons (13.3%) in the group with the serum ferritin level of lower than 164.1ng/ml, and eight persons (53.3%) in the other group. This difference was statistically significant between the two groups (p=0.02). The relative risk of HT was 4 (95% CI: 1.012- 15.8) in the patients with massive IS of middle cerebral artery and the serum ferritin level greater than 164.1ng/ml.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study revealed that the serum ferritin level greater than 164.1ng/ml in the first 24 hours after admission is a reasonably important predictor for HT of IS. Conducting studies on factors affecting the serum ferritin level are suggested.
authors: Associate Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, Firoozgar Hospital, Firoozgar Clinical Research Development Center (FCRDC), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. mehrpr@yahoo.com.
authors: Masoud
authors: M
authors: Mehrpour
authors: MD, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 325m.mehrpur@gmail.com.
authors: Mohammad
authors: M
authors: Mehrpour
keywords: Ferritin; Hemorrhagic Transformation; Stroke