C-reactive protein for predicting all-cause mortality in patients with acute ischemic stroke: a meta-analysis

Studies on the association of C-reactive protein (CRP) with all-cause mortality in acute ischemic stroke patients have yielded conflicting results. The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the prognostic value of CRP elevation in predicting all-cause mortality amongst patients with acute ischemic stroke. We searched the original observational studies that evaluated the association of CRP elevation with all-cause mortality in patients with acute ischemic stroke using PubMed and Embase databases until 20 January 2018. Pooled multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of all-cause mortality was obtained for the highest compared with the lowest CRP level or per unit increment CRP level. A total of 3604 patients with acute ischemic stroke from eight studies were identified. Acute ischemic stroke patients with the highest CRP level were independently associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.60–2.68) compared with the lowest CRP category. The pooled HR of all-cause mortality was 2.40 (95% CI: 1.10–5.21) for per unit increase in log-transformed CRP. Elevated circulating CRP level is associated with the increased risk of all-cause mortality in acute ischemic stroke patients. This meta-analysis supports the routine use of CRP for the death risk stratification in such patients.