Abstract

Plasma Fibrinogen: An Independent Risk Factor for Post- Stroke Depression

Author(s): Xiaoqian Luan, Huiping Shen, Kai Zhao,Huihua Qiu, Huijun Chen, Jincai He

Abstract

Background: Post-stroke depression (PSD) is a disease with high incidence in stroke patients. It is reported that about one third of stroke patients may develop depression after stroke. Elevated levels of plasma fibrinogen are found in stroke patients. Our study aims to find out whether there is a relationship between plasma fibrinogen level and PSD.

Methods and Findings: 406 acute ischemic stroke patients were admitted to our study. Plasma fibrinogen levels were assayed at hospital admission and measured by the method of Clauss and a Stago auto analyer with STA fibrinogen kit (Diagnostic Stago, Taverny, France). Clinical depression was diagnosed according to DSM-V criteria and a HAMD 17 score of ≥ 7 one month after the stroke.

Results: We found that 140 patients (34.5%) developed PSD, PSD group had a higher levels of plasma fibrinogen (3.73 g/l ±0.92), which was statistically different with non-PSD group (3.24 g/l ±0.73) (P<0.001). Meanwhile, elevated plasma fibrinogen levels (≥3.69 g/l) were independently associated with PSD, which developed at one month after acute ischemic stroke (OR 3.446, 95%CI 1.839-6.456, P<0.001).

Conclusions: Patients with a high level of plasma fibrinogen at admission are related to the development of PSD and may be an independent predictor for the generation of depression one month after stroke.