ABSTRACT
To evaluate the association between baseline national institutes of health stroke scale score and functional outcome after acute ischemic stroke. Descriptive study. Medical unit-IV, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, from May 2009 to October 2009. Patients who presented with stroke within 24 hours of onset of symptoms and had a developing infarct on the CT-scan were further evaluated for neurological impairment using NIH stroke scale. The baseline NIHSS score was calculated using a proforma. Age of the patien, gender and time of presentation to the hospital was recorded. Follow-up was done on the 7[th] day of admission using Glasgow outcome scale [GOS]. Total number of subjects was 150. Good outcome [GOS=1-2] was noticed in those subjects who had a low baseline.NIHSS score [0-6] while poor outcome [GOS=3-5] was noticed in those subjects who had a higher baseline NIHSS score [>16] [p value<0.05]. In cases who had a moderate score [7-15]; the ratio of good outcome to bad outcome was almost 70:30. Likewise good outcome [GOS=1-2] was noticed in those subjects who were younger [less than 45 years] while poor outcome [GOS=3-5] was noticed in the elderly [more than 45 years] [p value <0.05]. Similarly patients who presented within 12hrs of symptom onset had a good outcome compared to those who presented after 12hrs [p value<0.05]. Baseline NIH stroke scale score is strongly associated with functional outcome after1 week of acute ischemic stroke