ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurological Biomarkers
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1675822
Association between mean corpuscular volume and three-month outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke: a second analysis based on a prospective cohort study
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Longgang Central Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
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Acute ischemic stroke is a major cause of global mortality and disability. This study aimed to investigate the association between mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and 3-month outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients. This study is a secondary analysis based on a prospective cohort study conducted at a single center in Korea from January 2010 to December 2016. The study included 1,906 acute ischemic stroke patients. The exposure variable was MCV measured within 24 hours of admission, and the outcome variable was the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 3 months post-admission. Covariates included age, gender, body mass index, hemoglobin, hematocrit, liver function indicators, diabetes history, and stroke etiology. Piecewise linear regression analysis revealed a non-linear U‑shaped association of MCV on adverse outcomes, with a critical turning point at 92.1 fl. After full adjustment (Model 3), when MCV was below 92.1 fL, each 1 fL increase was associated with an 8% lower odds of poor 3-month outcome (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.88–0.96, P = 0.0003). Conversely, when MCV exceeded 92.1 fL, each 1 fL increase was associated with a 4% higher odds of poor outcome (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00–1.08, P = 0.0391). There was a U‑shaped association between MCV and three-month outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke.
Keywords: Acute ischemic stroke, Mean corpuscular volume, prognosis, non-linear relationship, risk stratification
Received: 15 Aug 2025; Accepted: 21 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lv, Miao, Zhu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fei Li, 18854808671@163.com
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