Different prognostic value of white blood cell subtypes in patients with acute cerebral infarction

Objective: We aimed to investigate the relationship of each white blood cells (WBC) subtype with neurologic severity and outcome in acute stroke. Methods: We included 779 patients with first-ever acute cerebral infarction within 72 h after symptom onset. We investigated the association between counts for WBC subtypes in peripheral blood at admission and (1) initial stroke severity; (2) early change in stroke severity within one week; and (3) functional outcome at three months. Results: Higher total WBC and neutrophil counts were associated with more severe stroke at admission (p < 0.001). In contrast, lower lymphocyte counts were associated with a lesser improvement during the first week after admission (p < 0.05) and with poor functional outcome at three months (OR = 0.706 per 1000 lymphocyte counts/mm(3), p = 0.020). Conclusions: Our study merits further investigation on the role of each WBC subtype in ischemic injury and different prognostic value of WBC subtypes measured at admission in acute stroke. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.