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Background: Neutrophil-Lymphocyte count ratio (NLCR), a readily accessible biomarker, has become increasingly useful as predictive and prognostic tools in patients with various medical conditions. NLCR has also been reported to represent disease severity effectively.Aims and Objectives: To investigate NLCR on admission as a prognostic marker of bacteremia and in-hospital mortality in patients diagnosed with Sepsis and Septic Shock.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, retrospective study involves one-hundred twenty (120) adult patients with Sepsis and Septic Shock admitted to the IMCU and ICU from January 2015 to December 2016. Laboratory data and clinical outcomes were retrieved and documented from the laboratory and patients’ charts. A cut-off point of >10 was used to be a marker for bacteremia and hence, patients were stratified into two groups based on this cut-off. Out of 120, 78 patients (with mean age of 60) has NLCR of at least 10 while only 42 patients (with mean age of 55) has NCLR of at most 10.Results: A significant, strong and positive association between NLCR and in-hospital mortality was found (P=0.0001) indicating that an increased rate of mortality is observed for patients with persistently high NCLR. Results also indicated that NLCR is a significant predictor (P=0.0002) of in-hospital mortality via a logistic model. The receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve for NLCR predicting in-hospital mortality showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.8007 which is an indicative of high predictive power. Its sensitivity and specificity is calculated to be 97.37% and 93.18, respectively. Overall, the performance of NCLR as a predictor based on its computed hit rate is found to be approximately 93.33%.Conclusion: Increased NLCR levels were independently associated with unfavorable clinical prognosis in patients with sepsis. A high NLCR (>10) is significantly associated with in- hospital mortality. NCLR predicts in-hospital mortality with high accuracy, high precision and small misclassification.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.9(3) 2018 6-9

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Introduction: Stroke is life threatening & debilitating neurological disease, defined as focal neurological deficit of sudden onset lasting >24 hours & vascular in origin. Significant association between ischemic type of stroke with carotid artery disease seen, more prevalent with carotid artery stenosis.  Objectives: This study was done to show association between extracranial carotid artery disease & cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) with the help of Color Doppler Sonography (CDS). The association between carotid artery disease with associated risk factors were also assessed.  Methodology: In this ethically approved prospective study, carotid CDS was done in 79 consecutive patients with diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). The various parameters studied included peak systolic velocity (PSV) of internal carotid artery (ICA) & common carotid artery (CCA), ICA/CCA PSV ratio & plaque characteristics. The data collected was analyzed with appropriate statistical test of significance was calculated.  Results: Total 79 patients with AIS included out of which 53 were males & 26 were females. The most common presenting complains were hemiparesis (30.4%) & most commonly associated risk factors included hypertension (62.02%). Right sided strokes were most common (44.3%) & middle cerebral artery was most commonly involved vascular territory. Significant stenosis (≥50%) of carotid artery was seen in 27 patients with ICA most common site (45.8%) for plaque formation. Bilateral carotid artery involvement (52.1%) with hypoechoic echotexture of atheromatous plaques (46.6%) was most responsible for significant stenosis & increased intima media thickness. Increased value of PSV & EDV was seen in the stenotic area in the proportion of stenosis with increased PSV ICA/CCA ratio of more than three indicates >60% stenosis.  Conclusion: The present study showed well documented role of carotid doppler in detection of site & extent of carotid artery stenosis due to atheromatous plaques of various characteristics playing critical role in thromboembolic phenomenon responsible for development of stroke.