Reduced Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A Levels are Correlated with the Incidence of Brain Edema in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients

Aims: To study the correlation between the vascular endothelial growth factor A/VEGF-A level and the incidence of brain edema in acute ischemic stroke patients.

Study Design: A prospective observational analytic case-control study.

Place and Duration of Study: Stroke Unit at the Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, between December 2010 and August 2011.

Methodology: Seventy-one hospitalized acute ischemic stroke patients were recruited, consisting of 37 subjects in the brain edema group and 34 subjects in the non-brain edema group. Comparative analysis of the VEGF-A levels in blood was performed between the brain edema and non-brain edema groups.

Results: The average level of VEGF-A in the brain edema group was 436 pg/mL and the one in the non-brain edema group was 746 pg/mL. This difference was statistically significant (95%CI: 5.5-615; P=.046). The proportion of VEGF-A levels less than the calculated cut-off point (638.3 pg/mL) in the brain edema group were significantly greater than the ones in the non-brain edema (83.78% and 58.82%, respectively; OR=3.6; 95%CI=1.06-13.26; P=.020).

Conclusions: The decreased levels of VEGF-A in blood were correlated with the incidence of brain edema in acute ischemic stroke patients.