Neurological Pupil Index as an Indicator of Neurological Worsening in Large Hemispheric Strokes

Background/Objective Cerebral herniation due to brain edema is the major cause of neurological worsening in patients suffering large hemispheric strokes. In this study, we investigated whether quantitative pupillary response could help identify the neurological worsening due to brain swelling in patients with large hemispheric strokes. Methods Quantitative pupillary assessment using an automated pupillometer (NPi-100) was performed between April 2017 and August 2019 for patients suffering large hemispheric strokes. Consecutive pupillary responses were measured every 2 or 4 h as a part of routine clinical care. We compared the mean neurological pupil index (NPi) values, NPi value at the time of neurological deterioration, and percentage change in NPi from the immediate previous value between patients with and without neurological worsening. Results In this study, 2442 quantitative pupillary assessments were performed (n = 30; mean age, 67.9 years; males, 60.0%). Among the included patients, 10 (33.3%) experienced neurological worsening. Patients with neurological worsening had a significantly lower mean value of NPi and a sudden decrease in the NPi value as compared to those without neurological worsening during the whole monitoring period (3.88 +/- 0.65 vs. 4.45 +/- 0.46, P < 0.001; and 29.5% vs. 11.1%, P = 0.006, respectively). All patients with NPi values below 2.8 showed neurological deterioration. Conclusions Quantitative monitoring of the pupillary response using an automated pupillometer could be a useful and noninvasive tool for detecting neurological deterioration due to cerebral edema in large hemispheric stroke patients.