Predictive value of admission neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after stroke thrombolysis

Background Stroke is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality. The need for additional objective parameters as well as the existing criteria continues for eligible patients. The objective of this study is to determine whether the baseline neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) predicts symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (SICH) due to intravenous thrombolytic therapy. Material and methods One hundred thirty-three consecutive patients aged 18 years and over who were admitted to the emergency department of a training and research hospital for acute ischemic stroke and underwent intravenous thrombolytic therapy were retrospectively analyzed. For the definition of SICH, European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study III (ECASS III) classification was accepted. Results When the groups with and without intracranial hemorrhage were compared, there was a significant difference in terms of the initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score (p < 0.006), glucose level (p < 0.018), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p < 0.050). The NLR value of the patients ranged from 0.47 to 13.74. In the group with SICH, NLR was found to be higher but not statistically significant. (p = 0.125). Conclusion For predicting SICH, NLR did not provide strong specificity and sensitivity. A precise cut-off value could not be found to predict the hemorrhagic transformation.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate whether the baseline neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) predicts symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (SICH) due to intravenous thrombolytic therapy. However, the results showed that NLR did not provide strong specificity and sensitivity for predicting SICH, and a precise cut-off value could not be found to predict hemorrhagic transformation.