Cortisol as a Prognostic Marker of Short-Term Outcome in Chinese Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: e72758

Background Early prediction of outcome is important for allocation of therapeutic strategies. Endocrine alterations of the hypothalamus-pituitary-axis are one of the first stress-induced alterations after cerebral ischemia. We therefore evaluated the prognostic value of serum cortisol in Chinese patients with an acute ischemic stroke. Methods In a prospective observational study, serum cortisol was measured using a solid-phase, competitive chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay on admission in serum of 226 consecutive Chinese patients with an acute ischemic stroke. The prognostic value of serum cortisol to predict the functional outcome, mortality within 90 days, was compared with clinical variables (e.g., advanced age and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale [NHISS] score) and with other known predictors. Results Patients with a poor outcome and nonsurvivors had significantly increased serum cortisol levels on admission (P