Cystatin C is a useful predictor of early neurological deterioration following ischaemic stroke in elderly patients with normal renal function.

INTRODUCTION

Cystatin C has been suggested as a sensitive marker of renal function. A high level of cystatin C is related to cardiovascular disease and stroke in elderly patients. We investigated the relationship between levels of cystatin C and early neurological deterioration with acute ischaemic stroke in elderly patients without chronic kidney disease.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We evaluated a total of 771 elderly patients (mean age, 72.2; male, 59.0%) without chronic kidney disease who were admitted following acute ischaemic stroke between March 2010 and January 2015. The patients were divided into four groups based on the quartiles of serum cystatin C values. Early neurological deterioration was defined as an increase of ≥2 points from the baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score during the 7 days following onset. We compared the clinical characteristics and cystatin C concentrations between patients with and without early neurological deterioration.

RESULTS

Eighty-six patients (11.2%) experienced early neurological deterioration. The percentage values of the higher (third and fourth) quartiles were significantly higher in the early neurological deterioration group (30.2% vs. 24.4% and 34.9% vs. 23.8%,  = 0.002). After adjustment for covariates, higher cystatin C levels were independently associated with a higher risk of early neurological deterioration: odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for second quartile 1.59 (0.70-3.58), third quartile 2.75 (1.25-6.04), fourth quartile 3.12 (1.36-7.16); for trend 0.026.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that cystatin C concentrations in elderly patients without chronic kidney disease were associated with early neurological deterioration following acute stroke. This suggests that cystatin C level could be a useful predictor for early neurological deterioration following acute stroke.