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/mm³, 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.