VALUE OF NEUTROPHILE/LYMPHOCYTE RATIO FOR DIFFERENTIATION OF STROKE CASES IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Introduction: Stroke is a disease that may result in death and sequelae in which rapid diagnosis and appropriate treatment is essential. From this point of view, diagnostic tools have remarkable importance. The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio is a rapidly available marker that may be used to recognize inflammation. In this study, our aim was to investigate the effectiveness of NLR in the differentiation of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Material and methods: Patients older than 18 years of age, who weren't pregnant or were not suspected of having infection, who had no history or suspicion of hematologic disease and who were diagnosed with acute stroke were included in the study Results: The study was conducted by 332 patients whom 89.4% (n = 288) of them were diagnosed with ischemic and 10.6% (n = 34) of them were diagnosed with hemorrhagic stroke. According to the groups, the neutrophil and NLR measurements of the patients with ischemic diagnosis were found to be lower than those with hemorrhagic diagnosis = 0.004; p <0.01). A statistically significant association was detected between the diagnosis and cut off value of 61(p=0.004; p<0.01). Risk of ischemic stroke in the cases at and over 61 years of age is 2.821 fold more. Conclusion: The efficacy of the inflammatory response after ischemic stroke is an important factor in determining the nature of stroke. Our study showed that lower neutrophil count and NLR in the patients who were suspected of stroke may help to assess the risk of ischemic stroke and the risk of ischemic stroke was found higher especially in the patients at and over 61 years of age.