Blood Markers of Inflammation and Endothelial Dysfunction in Cardioembolic Stroke: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Context: Various processes including inflammation and endothelial dysfunction have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardioembolic (CE) strokes.Objective: To review the evidence and investigate the association between immune-inflammatory biomarkers and CE strokes versus other stroke subtypes.Methods: We systematically reviewed the literature (sources: MEDLINE, web-based register http://stroke-biomarkers.com, reference lists) with quality assessment and meta-analysis of selected articles.Results: The most consistent association was found between C-reactive protein (CRP) and CE strokes when compared to other stroke subtypes (standardized mean difference 0.223 (0.116, 0.343); p<0.001)Conclusions: Our findings confirm a possible association between selected inflammatory biomarkers and CE stroke.