Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte Ratio Predicts the Outcome of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis

Abstract

Background: Increasing evidences suggest that Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, the relationship between NLR and prognosis in patients with Cerebral Venous Thrombosis (CVT) has not been studied. Methods: Consecutive CVT patients from November 2011 through April 2019 were retrospectively identified. Poor outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) of 3-6. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between total and differential leukocyte counts, NLR and clinical outcome in CVT patients. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was further performed to evaluate the ability to predict mortality, and subgroup analysis was conducted to explore the potential interaction effects. Results: A total of 360 CVT patients were included, and the median duration of follow-up was 9.0 months. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that NLR value, as a continuous variable, was significantly associated with a high risk of poor outcome (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.06, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.01-1.11, P = 0.013) and mortality (adjusted OR = 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03-1.14; P = 0.002). Compared with the total and differential leukocyte counts, the best discriminating variable to predict the risk of mortality was NLR, and the area under the receiver operating curve was 0.81. The optimal cut-off value of NLR to predict mortality was 5.6 (sensitivity 84.2%, specificity 69.9%). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that the mortality rate was significantly higher in patients with a high NLR level group (>5.6) (adjust hazard ratio=5.65, 95% CI 2.33-12.73, P<0.001). There was no potential heterogeneity in the further subgroup analysis across age (above vs. below 45 years old), sex, history of infections and pregnancy/postpartum, presence of coma and intracerebral hemorrhage. Conclusion: Elevated NLR value is associated with a high risk of poor outcomes in CVT patients.