Estimation of Vitamin D Levels in Acute Ischaemic Stroke - A Study from Amritsar, Punjab

BACKGROUND World Health Organization (WHO) defines stroke as “rapidly developing clinical signs of focal (or global) disturbance of cerebral function, lasting more than 24 hours or leading to death, with no apparent cause other than that of vascular origin.” Low serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D is associated with large infarct volume, which worsens the outcome in ischemic stroke patients. In this study, we wanted to evaluate serum vitamin D levels in acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) patients and correlate the severity of stroke with lipid profile & central nervous system (CNS). METHODS It was a cross sectional comparative study, conducted in Department of Medicine in SGRDIMSR, Sri Amritsar from December 2018 to June 2020. A total of 100 subjects, 50 cases of AIS, diagnosed by history, clinical examination and supported by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain and 50 age and sex matched healthy controls were enrolled for the present study to estimate serum vitamin D level in AIS. Detailed clinical history and clinical examination were done on all participating subjects and relevant investigations were done. Diagnosis was confirmed by MRI brain in acute ischemic stroke cases. The severity of neurological impairment was evaluated as per Canadian neurological stroke scale within 24 hours of admission of the cases. RESULTS Mean age of cases was 62.06 ± 10.52 years and mean age of control was 59.14 ± 11.36 with maximum number of subjects were in age group of 61 - 70 years. The mean value of vitamin D in study group was 19.31 ± 9.24 while in control group, mean value was 36.42 ± 8.33, showing more serum vitamin D deficiency in cases having AIS than controls. (P value 0.021). CONCLUSIONS The present study suggests that the low serum vitamin D levels in the body is associated with more severe neurological deficit. KEYWORDS Stroke, Serum Vitamin D, Acute Ischemic Stroke, Canadian Neurological Scale