The Systemic Immune Inflammation Index and Systemic Inflammation Response Index

Researchers, co-led by Kai-Bin Lin and Feng-Hua Fan, examined the association between two novel measures of body inflammation—the systemic immune inflammation index (SIII) and systemic inflammation response index (SIRI)—and the presence of atrial fibrillation in patients who experienced ischemic stroke. The research team supported SIII and SIRI as “convenient and effective measurements for predicting the presence of atrial fibrillation in patients with ischemic stroke.”

The report, published in the European Journal of Medical Research, also noted that the indexes were associated with “increased financial burden and poor short-term prognosis” in patients with atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke.

SIII and SIRI Associations with Atrial Fibrillation Data

The study included a total of 526 patients who presented with ischemic stroke, of which 173 had atrial fibrillation and 353 did not. Participants’ SIII and SIRI were measured, and any associations between scores and presence of atrial fibrillation were evaluated via logistic regression analysis. Lastly, associations between hospitalization expenses, changes in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, and SIII/SIRI scores were assessed.

Reportedly, in patients with ischemic stroke, SIII and SIRI measures were significantly higher in those patients who also had atrial fibrillation compared to those who did not (P<.001). Additionally, the authors noted that the proportion of patients with atrial fibrillation was gradually higher within increasing quartiles of SIII and SIRI compared to patients without atrial fibrillation.

The logistic regression analysis also showed that log-transformed SIII/SIRI were independently associated with the presence of atrial fibrillation in patients with ischemic stroke (log-transformed SIII: odds ratio [OR] = 1.047; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.322-1.105; P=.047; log-transformed SIRI: OR = 6.197, 95% CI, 2.196-17.484, P=.001) Lastly, a positive correlation between hospitalization expenses, changes in NIHSS scores, and SIII/SIRI were found, and the correlation was more significant in patients with atrial fibrillation (P=.05).

Ultimately, the authors wrote that “this study indicated that elevated SIII and SIRI values are potential biomarkers of atrial fibrillation among the ischemic stroke patients.”

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