A high neutrophil-to-platelet ratio is associated with hematoma expansion in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Early hematoma expansion (HE) occurs in 20 to 40% of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients and is a primary determinant of early deterioration and poor prognosis. Previous studies have shown that inflammation is a major pathological feature of ICH, and the neutrophil-to-platelet ratio (NPR) is a marker of systemic inflammation. Therefore, we aimed to assess the association between the NPR and HE in ICH patients. METHODS: We retrospectively collected and analyzed data from ICH patients who received treatment at our institution from January 2018 to November 2019. The NPR was calculated from the admission blood test. Brain computed tomography (CT) scans were performed at admission and repeated within 24 h. Hematoma growth was defined as relative growth > 33% or absolute growth > 6 ml. RESULTS: A total of 317 patients were enrolled in our study. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the NPR was an independent predictor of HE [odds ratio (OR) = 1.742; 95% CI: 1.508–2.012, p < 0.001]. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that the NPR could predict HE, with an area under the curve of 0.838 (95% CI, 0.788–0.888, p < 0.001). The best predictive cut-off of the NPR for HE was 5.47 (sensitivity, 75.3%; specificity, 77.6%). CONCLUSIONS: A high NPR was associated with an increased risk of HE in patients with ICH.