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Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor as Predictive Biomarker for Stroke Severity and Outcome; An Evaluation of a New Clinical Module in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background: The need to study prognosis after incidence of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) has fueled researchers to identify predictors apart from neurological, functional, or disability measures. The purpose of this study was to test and validate a newly developed clinico-biomarker assessment module in AIS and also to investigate the role of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) after AIS. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled study with sample size of 250 patients suffering from AIS within 2 weeks of the index event were conducted and followed up for a period of three months. Age, gender, stroke subtype, previous stroke history, dysarthria, stroke localization, wakeup strokes, and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) were dichotomized as present or absent using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) which consists of four subcategories. The additional serum VEGF was scored between 1 and 4 (0–200 = 1, 200–300 = 2, 300–400 = 3, and 400–500 = 4). All these were summed under a clinical biomarker (CB) module with highest score of 30. Results: The mean VEGF in 125 patients was 378.4 + 98.9 pg/ml, indicating a moderately high increase with a score of 3 on CB module. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the CB model was fit to predict prognosis and severity [R2 = 0.86, F (23.4, 6);P = 0.001], with NIHSS subscore, prestroke status, and VEGF being very strong predictors. When only the clinical module was tested on all 250 patients, it was found that the NIHSS subscore, time to stroke onset and prestroke functional status were the most common [R2 = 0.79; F (45,9);P = 0.005]. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that VEGF is highly upregulated in AIS with severe disability as compared to healthy controls. This biomarker is a strong predictor of severity and functionality when combined with clinical variables three months post the ishemic event.