Atrial Fibrillation is Strongly Associated With the Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients: A Retrospective Study

Background: No study has investigated the relationship between hospital-admission neutrophil and lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and various stroke risk factors.We sought to determine which stroke risk factor could be the most appropriate predictor of NLR in acute ischemic stroke.Methods: We collected data on various stroke risk factors and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score in 1,053 acute ischemic stroke patients.The regression analysis was adjusted for confounding factors such as stroke risk factors.Results: There was a trend of increased NLR with a rise in alcohol consumption, the prevalence of hypertension, cardioembolism (CE) etiology, the NIHSS scores in men and the prevalence of atrial fibrillation, other heart diseases, CE and small vessel occlusion etiology and the NIHSS scores in women.Multiple linear regression analyses, adjusted for confounding factors, showed that the atrial fibrillation and NIHSS scores in men and atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus as well as NIHSS scores in women had a significant positive association with NLR.However, a negative association was showed for body mass index (BMI).Conclusion: We confirmed that the atrial fibrillation can be a predictor of high NLR in acute stroke patients, and diabetes mellitus as well as low BMI could be a predictor of high NLR in female acute ischemic stroke patients.