a positive trendp = 0.250
This study showed a positive trend between 24-h EPO and 24-h NIHSS (r = 0.101 , p = 0.250), negative trend between 24-h EPO and 7th day NIHSS (r = − 0.174, p = 0.121) and positive trend between 24-h EPO and delta NIHSS (r = 0.186, p = 0.106) (Table 3 and Fig. 1 ).