SERUM FERRITIN AS PROGNOSTIC MARKER IN ACUTE ISCHEMIC STROKE-AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: Stroke is dened as "rapidly developing clinical evidence of focal (or global) impairment of brain function, with symptoms lasting 24 hours or more or leading to death, with no evident cause other than vascular origin," according to the World Health Organization. Many studies have suggested that serum ferritin may have a role in predicting iron-mediated free radical harm in the etiology of cerebrovascular disorders. A high serum ferritin level upon admission was linked to a poor prognosis in acute stroke patients (within 24-48 hours after start). The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the role of serum ferritin in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Settings and Design: It is observational study carried out in 50 cases with ischemic stroke. Severity of stroke was determined using CSS score. Laboratory investigations were done to estimate serum ferritin. Results: We found that the mean serum ferritin levels were signicantly increased among “more severe stroke” and deteriorated stroke patients than compared to “less severe stroke” and not-deteriorated stroke patients (p<0.05). We found signicant negative correlation with spearman's rho of -0.7 between serum ferritin and CSS score. Conclusions:Serum ferritin plays a major role in predicting the severity and prognostic outcome of acute ischemic stroke.