RESEARCH ARTICLE
Leukocyte Count and Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio as Simple Hematologic Predictors of Stroke Severity and Functional Outcome in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients
Rizaldy Taslim Pinzon1, 2, *, Vanessa Veronica1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2022Volume: 16
E-location ID: e1874205X2209280
Publisher ID: e1874205X2209280
DOI: 10.2174/1874205X-v16-e2209280
Article History:
Received Date: 6/6/2022Revision Received Date: 6/7/2022
Acceptance Date: 17/8/2022
Electronic publication date: 23/11/2022
Collection year: 2022
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
It has long been recognized that inflammation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke. However, whether leukocyte count and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio are related to stroke severity and functional outcome is uncertain.
Objective:
This clinical study aimed to evaluate the association of leukocyte count and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio with stroke severity and functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients.
Methods:
This hospital-based, retrospective observational study included 112 subjects with acute ischemic stroke. All subjects had their demographic, clinical, and laboratory data obtained. The leukocyte count and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio were evaluated by stroke severity on admission and 3-month functional outcome. The severity of stroke at admission was measured using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), whereas the Barthel Index was used to measure 3-month functional outcome (BI). We conducted a regression analysis, adjusting for any confounding variables.
Results:
Higher leukocyte count was significantly associated with increased risk of stroke severity (odds ratio [OR] 1.391, 95% confidence intervals [CI], 1.121-1.725, p: 0.003) and unfavorable functional outcome (OR 1.434, 95% CI, 1.068-1.925, p: 0.017). Higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was not significantly associated with increased risk of stroke severity (OR 1.181, 95% CI, 0.947-1.474, p: 0.140) and unfavorable functional outcome (OR 1.246, 95% CI, 0.905-1.716, p: 0.177).
Conclusion:
Our study indicates that leukocyte count is an independent predictor of stroke severity on admission and unfavorable functional outcome.
