Stroke, third leading cause of disability worldwide. In a minority of patients, it may be the surrogate marker of hidden malignancy. In such patients, hsCRP and D-Dimer and Fibrin degradation products will be elevated more than 10 times normal especially patient is of old age and a smoker. So in the evaluation of patients with stroke if no cause is found its better to do this marker to rule out a hidden malignancy.
All specialists should keep this in your mind before labeling it as cryptogenic. Have you ever had such experience? Do you think it should be made mandatory to do this serum levels in all stroke patients? Share your views.
