CORRELATION BETWEEN MEAN SERUM C-REACTIVE PROTEIN LEVEL AND MEAN LESION VOLUME IN ACUTE ISCHEMIC STROKE

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine the correlation between mean serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level and mean lesion volume in acute ischemic stroke. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at Department of Neurology and General Medicine Combined Military Hospital, Quetta, Pakistan, from Jan 2016 to Jul 2016. Methodology: A total of 50 patients of both genders fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in the study using non-probability consecutive sampling technique after taking informed consent. All patients were subjected to CT scan and infarct volume was calculated. Meanwhile blood samples were collected for CRP levels. Results: 21 (42%) were between 18-50 years of age while 29 (58%) were between 51-80 years of age. Mean age was 52.46 ± 13.33 years, 31 (62%) were male and 19 (38%) were females, mean serum CRP level of the patients was 37.56 ± 30.78 mg/L, mean lesion volume in acute ischemic stroke cases as 7.5 ± 3.59, Pearson correlation coefficient of mean lesion volume and serum CRP in acute ischemic stroke was calculated r=0.9162 (p-value 0.01). Conclusion: Correlation between CRP levels and infarction volume on CT scan in Acute Ischemic Stroke was found to be positive, therefore it may be used as a routine screening tool for estimation of infarct volume.