Red cell index: A novel biomarker for 3-month mortality in acute ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis

Hemogram and inflammatory indices in pain-free periods in migraine patients without aura

OBJECTIVES

Since neurogenic inflammation and hemoconcentration have a prominent role in the pathophysiology of migraine, evaluation of hemogram parameters and indices showing inflammation can yield important information. In this study, we have investigated blood cell counts and ratios, systemic inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) and red cell index (RCI) in the painless periods between pain attacks in patients with episodic migraine without aura.

METHODS

Hemogram data of both 309 patients diagnosed with migraine without aura related to pain-free periods and 199 healthy individuals were retrospectively retrieved from hospital records. Data related to erythrocyte, leukocyte, lymphocyte, platelet, monocyte, eosinophil counts; hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, red blood cell distribution width (RDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/lymphocyte ratio, monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and neutrophil/monocyte ratio, SII, SIRI and RCI values were scanned to reveal intergroup differences in terms of these parameters.

RESULTS

A comparison of laboratory parameters revealed that certain indices differed significantly between the migraine and control groups. MLR (p = 0.005) and RDW (p < 0.001) values were significantly lower, while platelet (p = 0.016), MPV (p < 0.001) and hematocrit (p = 0.014) were significantly higher in the migraine patient group compared to the control group. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding other parameters.

DISCUSSION

Higher hematocrit, platelet, mean platelet volume and lower monocyte/lymphocyte ratio values in this study support that hemoconcentration and chronic inflammation persist even in the absence of pain attacks in migraine patients without aura.

Association of Red Cell Index and Hospital Mortality in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Purpose

This study aims to explore the association between red cell index (RCI) and hospital mortality in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients in the intensive care unit.

Patients and Methods

This was a retrospective cohort research. The study included 821 COPD patients. Clinical data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database was conducted. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the correlation between RCI and in-hospital mortality. Age, SOFA score, diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular disease, congestive heart failure and mechanical ventilation were considered for subgroup analysis.

Results

This study comprised 821 patients, of which 16.5% (124/821) suffered hospital mortality. In the multivariate logistic regression model, RCI was positively associated with hospital mortality, each unit increase in RCI was associated with a 3% increase in hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR] =1.03; 95% confidence interval [95CI%] =1.01-1.06). Meanwhile, compare with the lowest RCI group, the highest RCI groups tended to have higher risks of hospital mortality (OR [95% CI] 2.33 [1.27-4.27]). Additionally, subgroup analysis result was persistent among all the groups.

Conclusion

Higher RCI was positively associated with a higher risk of mortality in critically ill patients with COPD. Further investigation is necessary to confirm these findings.

Red cell index: A novel biomarker for 3-month mortality in acute ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis

BACKGROUND

The red cell index (RCI) was described as a biomarker for evaluating respiratory function in previous studies, but the relationship between RCI and stroke, remained a mystery. The present study aimed to probe the association between RCI at 24-hr and 3-month mortality and functional outcomes among acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients treated with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA).

METHODS

A total of 217 AIS patients between January 2016 and January 2019 were recruited in this retrospective study. AIS patients were grouped in terms of RCI tertiles. Predictive factors were confirmed via multivariate logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to assess the ability of RCI in predicting mortality. In addition, the risk of 3-month all-cause mortality was evaluated by Cox proportional hazard model.

RESULTS

We grouped AIS patients into tertiles with the purpose of comparing clinical factors and RCI levels. Multivariate logistic regression analysis presented that RCI (odds ratio [OR] = 1.443, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.167-1.786], p = 0.001) was an independent biomarker for 3-month all-cause mortality. The best cutoff value of RCI was 2.41 (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.639, 95% CI [0.501-0.778], p = .032), with a sensitivity of 40.9% and a specificity of 89.7%. Cox survival analysis demonstrated a positive significant correlation between RCI (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.332, 95% CI [1.148-1.545], p < .001) and mortality risk.

CONCLUSION

RCI, a potential predictor, was significantly associated with 3-month mortality in AIS patients with r-tPA.