THE PROGNOSTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT PARAMETERS AND INFARCT-POSITIVE TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACK, INFARCT-NEGATIVE TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACK, AND ISCHEMIC STROKE

ISHAK SAN¹ , FERHAT ICME² , YÜCEL YUZBASIOGLU² , YAVUZ OTAL² , SELÇUK COSKUN² , ALP SENER² , AHMET FATIH KAHRAMAN⁴ , ERKUT EROL³

¹ Golbasi Hasvak State Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ankara - ² Atatürk Education and Research Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ankara - ³ Elaziğ Education and Research Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Elaziğ - ⁴ Bozok University, Fakulty of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Zonguldak, Turkey

Introduction: Stroke is an important health problem that may lead to serious disabilities or even to death. In the present study we aimed to investigate whether complete blood count parameters can aid in the detection and the differential diagnosis of infarctpositive Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), infarct-negative TIA, and ischemic stroke (IS) in patient followed up in the emergency department.

Materials and methods: This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 252 patients meeting the medical history and physical examination criteria for TIA (n=99) and IS (n=153) Neutrophil, lymphocyte, and platelet counts, platelet distribution width (PDW), and mean platelet volume (MPV) levels obtained from the complete blood count taken at the time of emergency department admission were recorded for both patient and control groups; platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were calculated from these parameters. The ischemic stroke, TIA, and control groups, as well as other subgroups were compared with one another with respect to the complete blood count parameters.

Results: Neutrophil count, MPV, and NLR levels were higher in the IS group compared to the control group whereas IS group had a lower lymphocyte count, platelet count, and a PDW level compared to the control group. TIA group had a higher neutrophil count, NLR and PLR than the control group whereas lymphocyte count and PDW level were lower in the TIA group compared to the control group. MPV level was higher in the IS and infarct-positive TIA patient group than both the control group and infarct-negative TIA patient group.

Conclusion: Owing to high MPV levels in both infarct-positive TIA and IS, we suggest that MPV can be a good marker for infarction. Furthermore, lower platelet count in the IS group and higher PLR in the TIA group can both be used in the differential diagnosis of both conditions.