White Blood Cell Count as a Marker of Stroke Severity and Clinical Outcomes after Acute Ischemic Stroke (P03.011)

Abstract

Objective: We hypothesized that higher degrees of leukocytosis is a marker of worse clinical outcomes and prognosis after acute ischemic stroke. Background The degree of inflammatory response was reportedly associated with the severity of acute ischemic stroke. Design/Methods: This retrospective case series included data from Phase 3 of the Registry of the Canadian Stroke Network on consecutive patients with ischemic stroke who were admitted to one stroke center in Ontario and one center in Nova Scotia. We included all consecutive patients admitted to hospital with ischemic stroke between July/2003 and March/2008. Patients with a final diagnosis of non-stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, or intracerebral hemorrhage, patients using corticosteroids, patients with cancer, patients using an anti-convulsivant drug prior the admission, patients using an antibiotic prior to admission, patients on renal dialysis, patients with liver cirrhosis, and pregnant patients were excluded. Results: Higher white blood cell count (WBC) is significantly associated with greater degree of impairment (p Conclusions: The results of our study indicate that a higher WBC on the initial admission an acute ischemic stroke is associated with poorer prognosis with respect to the degree of impairment and disability, risk of further ischemic stroke and 30-day mortality. Given the large sample size of this prospectively collected database, those results were properly adjusted for several major potential confounders. Of note, the length of stay in the acute stroke care center was not adversely affected by WBC on admission. Supported by: Funded by scholarships and fellowships from University of Toronto. Disclosure: Dr. Furlan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Vergouwen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Silver has nothing to disclose.