Nomogram Including Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio for the Prediction of Stroke-Associated Infections

Stroke has been a leading cause of mortality in China. Stroke-associated infections (SAI) are common complications, occurring in 5–65% of stroke patients. Faced with SAI, clinicians often are placed in a considerable dilemma. On the one hand, preventive overuse of antibiotics will lead to the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. On the other hand, treatment delay of the infection will likely result in a poor outcome. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the early predictors of post-stroke infection to screen patients with high infection risk for early clinical intervention, thereby promoting and improving survival rates. We assessed 257 patients with acute ischemic stroke from a consecutive retrospective cohort. Data of these patients were obtained from three hospitals (TongJi Hospital and its two branches) between August 2018 and June 2019. Of these patients, 59 (23.0%) developed SAI. SAI was defined according to the modified Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria. There were 38 patients (64.4%) who developed pneumonia, 11 with urinary tract infections (18.6%), and 10 with other infections (16.9%). We found that a higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.33; P = 0.034), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (aOR = 1.18; CI, 1.09–1.27; p < 0.001), and dysphagia (aOR = 2.95; CI, 1.40–6.22; P = 0.004) were risk factors for SAI. Of note, hypertriglyceridemia (aOR = 0.35; C...
Source: Frontiers in Neurology - Category: Neurology Source Type: research