Hemostatic markers and platelet aggregation factors as predictive markers for type of stroke and neurological disability following cerebral infarction

We investigated the plasma levels of D-dimer, fibrinogen, β-thromboglobulin (BTG) and platelet factor-4 (PF-4), indices of the occurrence of platelet activation in vivo, to find out their role in pathophysiology of ischemic stroke and whether or not such a role has any effect on the disability and the prognosis of stroke patients. A total of 76 patients with AIS aged from 26 to 85 (32 men, 44 women) and 30 cases as controls with similar age (18 men, 12 women) were included in the study. The plasma levels of D-dimer, BTG and PF-4 were measured by ELISA method using a special commercial kit. The cases were allocated into two groups as non-embolic (NEI) and cardioembolic stroke (CEI). The D-dimer levels in 76% of 42 patients in NEI group ( p < 0.05) and 85.2% of 34 patients in CEI group ( p < 0.05) were outside the confidence interval (CI) defined for the control group. The levels of BTG were elevated in 81% of 42 cases with NEI ( p < 0.05) and in 76% of 34 cases with CEI, with reference to CI of control group. The levels of PF-4 were significantly increased in 86% of cases with NEI ( p < 0.05) and in 88% of cases with CEI than controls ( p < 0.05). It was observed that the cases with high Rankin scores had higher levels of D-dimer ( p < 0.005), BTG ( p < 0.01) and PF-4 ( p < 0.01) than those with lower scores. There was a correlation between hemostatic markers, platelet activation and functional disability. D-dimer levels were an important marker that determined to degree of the activation of hemostatic system, especially in CEI subtype. The platelet aggregation had an important role in pathophysiology of ischemic stroke and this condition is significant in NEI subgroup and subjects with large infarcts and high disability scores.