Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte Ratio as a New Predictor of Sepsis in Critically-ill Stroke Patients

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported that many severe stroke patients developed sepsis during their acute phase, which leads to poor outcomes. In stroke, there is a shift from predominant Th1 lymphocytes, which have proinflammatory characteristics, to predominant Th2 lymphocytes which activate anti-inflammatory responses that induce hyporesponsiveness of the immune system against an invasion of pathogen, known as stroke-induced immunodepression syndrome. AIM: This study aims to examine whether the neutrophils-to-lymphocytes ratio (NLR) could predict the development of sepsis in acute stroke patients. METHODS: Patients were admitted to Fatmawati hospital intensive care unit from September 2019 to May 2020. RESULTS: The mean NLR of acute stroke patients during their stay in ICU was 16.8 ± 12.5. We performed Mann–Whitney test, which revealed that the mean rank of several NLR parameters, such as initial NLR, day-3 NLR, highest NLR, and dNLR in stroke patients at ICU, was associated with the incidence of sepsis. The median difference in day-3 NLR, highest NLR, and dNLR in the stroke group with sepsis differed from those of the non-sepsis group. CONCLUSION: NLR is assumed to have potential as an early predictor to distinguish septic conditions from non-septic conditions, to prevent delay in establishing diagnosis and management of sepsis, especially in acute, critically-ill stroke patients.