Open AccessPrognostic value of early leukocyte fluctuations for recovery from traumatic spinal cord injury
Author(s) -
Jogia Trisha,
Lübstorf Tom,
Jacobson Esther,
Scriven Elissa,
Atresh Sridhar,
Nguyen Quan H.,
Liebscher Thomas,
Schwab Jan M.,
Kopp Marcel A.,
Walsham James,
Campbell Kate E.,
Ruitenberg Marc J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
clinical and translational medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.125
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 2001-1326
DOI - 10.1002/ctm2.272
Subject(s) - neutrophilia , medicine , spinal cord injury , receiver operating characteristic , injury severity score , area under the curve , cohort , incidence (geometry) , logistic regression , neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio , odds ratio , white blood cell , lymphocyte , poison control , spinal cord , emergency medicine , injury prevention , physics , optics , psychiatry
Background Acute traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) induces a systemic immune response involving circulating white blood cells (WBCs). How this response is influenced by overall trauma severity, the neurological level of injury and/or correlates with patient outcomes is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to identify relationships between early changes in circulating WBCs, injury characteristics and long‐term patient outcomes in individuals with traumatic SCI. Methods We retrospectively analysed data from 161 SCI patients admitted to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital (exploration cohort). Logistic regression models in conjunction with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to assess the strength of specific links between the WBC response, respiratory infection incidence and neurological outcomes (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grade conversion). An independent validation cohort from the Trauma Hospital Berlin, Germany (n = 49) was then probed to assess the robustness of effects and disentangle centre effects. Results We find that the extent of acute neutrophilia in human SCI patients is positively correlated with New Injury Severity Scores but inversely with the neurological outcome (AIS grade). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that acute SCI‐induced neutrophilia is an independent predictor of AIS grade conversion failure, with an odds ratio (OR) of 4.16 and ROC area under curve (AUC) of 0.82 ( P < 0.0001). SCI‐induced lymphopenia was separately identified as an independent predictor of better recovery (OR = 24.15; ROC AUC = 0.85, P < 0.0001). Acute neutrophilia and increased neutrophil‐lymphocyte ratios were otherwise significantly associated with respiratory infection presentation in both patient cohorts. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate the prognostic value of modelling early circulating neutrophil and lymphocyte counts with patient characteristics for predicting the longer term recovery after SCI.