Prognostic value of leptin: 6-Month outcome in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage

Leptin has recently been discussed as a novel biomarker for the clinical outcome of critical illness. This study aims to investigate the prognostic value of leptin with regard to long-term clinical outcomes in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage. In 50 healthy controls and 92 patients with acute spontaneous basal ganglia hemorrhage presenting to the emergency department of a large primary care hospital, we measured plasma leptin levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a blinded fashion. Plasma leptin levels on admission were considerably higher in patients than healthy controls. A significant correlation emerged between plasma leptin level and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score. A multivariate analysis identified plasma leptin level as an independent predictor for 6-month clinical outcomes including 6-month mortality and unfavorable outcome (Modified Rankin Scale score > 2). Using receiver operating characteristic curves, we calculated areas under the curve for 6-month clinical outcomes. The predictive performance of leptin was similar to, but did not obviously improve that of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores. Thus, leptin may help in the prediction of 6-month mortality and unfavorable outcome after intracerebral hemorrhage.