Usefulness of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of functional outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke after thrombolysis therapy

Introduction: Inflammation is associated with the initiation and progression of cardiovascular diseases. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has recently emerged as a prognostic marker in cardiovascular diseases. However, impact of NLR on the functional outcome in patients with ischemic stroke remains unclear. Hypothesis: The aim of the study was to investigate the prognostic role of the NLR in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods: A consecutive 1,113 patients who were admitted within 7 days after ischemic stroke onset between March 2010 and December 2014 were included for analysis. The patients were categorized into tertiles on the basis of NLR. We evaluated the short-term outcomes using a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at three-months after onset of ischemic stroke. We divided patients into two groups with favorable outcome (mRS score ≤2) and unfavorable outcome (mRS score ≥3). We compared the clinical characteristics and NLR between two groups. Results: From all the patients included in this study (mean age, 67.8 years; men, 60.0%), 284 (25.5%) patients had unfavorable outcome. The patients with unfavorable outcome were older and more likely to have atrial fibrillation, history of previous stroke, and diabetes mellitus. In addition, participants with unfavorable outcome tended to have lower body mass index and higher initial NIHSS. The percentage values of the tertile 3 were significantly higher in the unfavorable outcome group (28.3% vs. 47.9%, P < 0.001). After adjustment for covariates, the highest tertile were at an exaggerated risk for unfavorable outcome [Odds ratio (95% confidence interval); tertile 3, 1.75 (1.17 - 2.63), P = 0.007]. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that higher NLR predicted worse outcome at 3 months following acute ischemic stroke. This suggests that NLR could be a useful and reliable prognostic biomarker following acute ischemic stroke.

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Increased Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio is Associated with Unfavorable Functional Outcome in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Neurocritical Care ◽

10.1007/s12028-019-00859-5 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 97-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Antje Giede-Jeppe ◽

Dominik Madžar ◽

Jochen A. Sembill ◽

Maximilian I. Sprügel ◽

Selim Atay ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ischemic Stroke ◽

Acute Ischemic Stroke ◽

Functional Outcome ◽

Neutrophil To Lymphocyte Ratio ◽

Lymphocyte Ratio

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Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Predictive Biomarker for Stroke Severity and Short-Term Prognosis in Acute Ischemic Stroke With Intracranial Atherosclerotic Stenosis

Frontiers in Neurology ◽

10.3389/fneur.2021.705949 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Yuanlin Ying ◽

Fang Yu ◽

Yunfang Luo ◽

Xianjing Feng ◽

Di Liao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ischemic Stroke ◽

Acute Ischemic Stroke ◽

Functional Outcome ◽

Neutrophil To Lymphocyte Ratio ◽

Stroke Severity ◽

Short Term ◽

Severe Stroke ◽

Lymphocyte Ratio ◽

Intracranial Atherosclerotic Stenosis ◽

Atherosclerotic Stenosis

Background: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an indicator of poor prognosis in acute ischemic stroke (AIS), but associations between NLR with stroke severity and prognosis of intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS)-related ischemic events have not been well-elucidated; therefore, we aimed to evaluate whether admission NLR levels correlate with the early stroke severity and short-term functional prognosis in patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (sICAS).Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 899 consecutive patients with AIS attributed to ICAS at Xiangya Hospital stroke center between May 2016 and September 2020. The initial stroke severity was rated by the admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, and the short-term prognosis was evaluated using the 14-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores after stroke onset. A severe stroke was defined as NIHSS >8; an unfavorable functional outcome was defined as mRS scores of 3–6. Admission NLR was determined based on circulating neutrophil and lymphocyte counts.Results: The median admission NLR of all patients was 2.80 [interquartile range (IQR), 2.00–4.00]. In univariate analysis, admission NLR was significantly elevated in patients with severe stroke and poor short-term prognosis. After multivariate adjustment, admission NLR levels were significantly correlated with severe stroke [odds ratio (OR), 1.132; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.038–1.234; P = 0.005] and unfavorable short-term prognosis (OR, 1.102; 95% CI, 1.017–1.195; P = 0.018) in Model 1. In Model 2, the highest NLR tertile (≥3.533) remained an independent predictor of severe stroke (OR, 2.736; 95% CI, 1.590–4.708; P < 0.001) and unfavorable functional outcome (OR, 2.165; 95% CI, 1.416–3.311; P < 0.001) compared with the lowest NLR tertile (<2.231). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed the predictability of NLR regarding the stroke severity [area under the curve (AUC), 0.659; 95% CI, 0.615–0.703; P < 0.001] and short-term prognosis (AUC, 0.613; 95% CI, 0.575–0.650; P < 0.001). The nomograms were constructed to create the predictive models of the severity and short-term outcome of sICAS.Conclusions: Elevated admission NLR levels were independently associated with the initial stroke severity and could be an early predictor of severity and poor short-term prognosis in AIS patients with ICAS, which might help us identify a target group timely for preventive therapies.

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Prognostic value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in acute ischemic stroke after reperfusion therapy

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-85373-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ying Bi ◽

Jing Shen ◽

Sheng-Cai Chen ◽

Ji-Xiang Chen ◽

Yuan-Peng Xia

Keyword(s):

Ischemic Stroke ◽

Acute Ischemic Stroke ◽

Functional Outcome ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Credible Interval ◽

Reperfusion Therapy ◽

Neutrophil To Lymphocyte Ratio ◽

Categorical Variables ◽

Poor Functional Outcome ◽

Lymphocyte Ratio

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate whether baseline neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was an independent predictor for early symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH), poor functional outcome and mortality at 3 months after reperfusion therapy in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. Using PubMed and EMBASE, we searched for literature published before January 19th, 2019. Two reviewers independently confirmed each study’s eligibility, assessed risk of bias, and extracted data. One reviewer combined studies using random effects meta-analysis. 9 studies with 3651 patients were pooled in the meta-analysis. Overall, baseline NLR levels were greater in patients with poor outcome. The standardized mean difference (SMD) in the NLR levels between patients with poor functional outcome (mRS > 2) and good functional outcome (mRS ≤ 2) was 0.54 units (95% credible interval [CI] [0.38, 0.70]). Heterogeneity test showed that there were significant differences between individual studies (p = 0.02; I2 = 72.8%). The NLR levels were associated with sICH in four included studies (n = 2003, SMD = 0.78, 95% [CI] [0.18, 1.38], I2 = 73.9%). Higher NLR levels were positively correlated with 3-month mortality (n = 1389, ES = 1.71, 95% CI [1.01,2.42], p < 0.01, I2 = 0%) when data were used as categorical variables. Our meta-analysis suggests that increased NLR levels are positively associated with greater risk of sICH, 3-month poor functional outcome and 3-month mortality in AIS patients undergoing reperfusion treatments. Although there are some deficits in this study, it may be feasible to predict the prognosis of reperfusion therapy in AIS patients with NLR levels.

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