English

Abstract

BACKGROUND The World Health Organization defined stroke as a "neurological deficit of cerebrovascular cause that persists beyond 24 hours or is interrupted by death within 24 hours". Stroke is one among the leading causes of death and disability in developed as well as developing countries. The red cell distribution width (RDW) is a numeric estimation of the erythrocyte size within the bloodstream. Elevated RDW has been proven to have a predisposing factor in the development of vascular thrombosis and therefore it is an instigator of cerebrovascular diseases. In this study, we intended to evaluate the relationship between RDW values with stroke severity and prognosis in patients in comparison with a healthy control group. METHODS This was an observational cross-sectional study conducted at Kanyakumari Govt Medical College, between June 2021 and December 2021. 150 patients with acute stroke were included in the study along with 150 age-matched controls. Red cell distribution width (RDW) was measured for cases as well as controls. Data were statistically analyzed using GraphPad Prism 8 software. RESULTS Red cell distribution width was positively associated with the occurrence of stroke, particularly ischemic stroke. It was not significantly associated with the occurrence of hemorrhagic stroke. CONCLUSIONS Thus red cell distribution width is a simple, cost-effective, easily attainable novel inflammatory marker that may help in detecting the severity and prognosis of acute ischemic stroke. It can be obtained even at primary health setups and may be used for decision making in the urgent referral of the patient for a better outcome. This study completely supported the routine calculation of this parameter that could add to risk stratification of patients with acute ischemic stroke. It was not significantly associated with the occurrence of hemorrhagic stroke. KEY WORDS RDW, Acute Ischemic Stroke, Cerebrovascular Accident.