Brain sciences
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Caspase-cleaved cytokeratin (CCCK)-18 could appear in blood during apoptosis. In two different studies, on day 1 of cerebral infarction and at 72 hours of cerebral infarction, respectively, higher circulating CCCK-18 levels were found in non-surviving than in surviving patients. The objective of this study was to analyze the ability of these levels to predict mortality at any time during the first week of cerebral infarction. ⋯ The novel finding is that serum levels of CCCK-18 levels at any time after the first week of MMCAI could help predict 30-day mortality.