Frequency of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Ischemic Stroke

  Objective: To determine the frequency of iron deficiency anemia in ischemic stroke. Methods: Total 200 patients with ischemic stroke were included. Investigations including Hemoglobin, Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), MeanCorpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC) serum iron level, and serum ferritin level, Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC), White Blood Cell (WBC) count andplatelets count (PC) were done. CT scan of brain was also done.Mean±SD were evaluated for quantitative variables which were distributed normally. However, median with inter-quartile range were evaluated for quantitative variables which were non-normally distributed. Data was compiled using SPSS version 25. To check normality of data, Shapiro-Wilk test was applied. To compare the association of qualitative variables, Chi-square test was used. Pvalue ?0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: In our study, out of 200 patients having ischemic stroke, 156 (78%) patients were found with iron deficiency and 44 (22%) did not have iron deficiency. Total 164 (82%) patients were anemic and 36 (18%) did not have anemia. The results showed significant mean ranks for Ferritin (p<0.001), Iron (p<0.001), Hemoglobin(p<0.001), Mean Corpuscular Volume(p<0.001), Mean Cell Hemoglobin(p<0.001), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration(p<0.001), and Total Iron Binding Capacity(p=0.005) with respect to iron deficiency, however White Blood Count (p=0.417) and platelet counts (p=0.511) did not have significant mean rank with respect to iron deficiency. As far as anemia is concerned, significant mean ranks was observed for Ferritin (p=0.002), Iron (p<0.001), Hemoglobin (p<0.001), Mean Corpuscular Volume (p<0.001), Mean Cell Hemoglobin (p<0.001), and Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (p<0.001). However, white blood count (p=0.270), platelet counts (p=0.320), and Total Iron Binding Capacity (p=0.535) did not have significant mean rank. .A significant association of iron deficiency with anemia (p<0.001) was also observed Conclusion: Study results show thatsignificant number ofischemic stroke patients have iron deficiency anemia.