C-reactive protein levels in the first three hours after acute cerebral infarction.

Background: Although thought to be involved in the precipitation of the acute ischemic stroke, C-reactive protein (CRP) was scarcely investigated in the first few hours of a cerebral infarction.

Patients And Methods: CRP was measured in a consecutive series of patients within the first 3 h of the onset of a first-ever acute cerebral infarction, and in control inpatients, matched for sex and age (±2 years).

Results: Three hundred eighty-seven stroke patients and 387 controls were enrolled.