الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Background: Infection during the first days after AIS (acute ischemic stroke) occurs in 25-65% of patients. Pneumonia and urinary tract infection are the most common infectious complications, causing a significant increase in the duration of hospitalization and increased mortality. Our study aimed at prospectively measuring the percentages of natural killer cells among patients with acute cerebrovascular stroke at base line and after 7 days Methods: Our study was conducted on 50 patients with acute ischemic stroke that were subjected on day 1 and day 7 to full history taking, clinical examination, and NIH Stroke Scale. Examination for possibility of infection using the modified criteria of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was done. Patients underwent investigations including MRI study of brain, CBC with differential and flow cytometry for the no of circulating natural killer Cells (NK).
Results: 18 out of 50 patients developed infection at day 7. 9 patients suffered of pneumonia, 6 others of urinary tract infection and two patients suffered of both while one patient developed groin abscess. 58% of our cases showed a decrease in their total leucocytic count and 74% showed a decrease in their lymphocytic count. Comparing NKC (natural killer cells) subsets in both the infected and non-infected patients showed no significant difference. Conclusion: After ischemic stroke, immune modulation usually occurs in the form of leucopenia and lymphopenia yet its relation to increased risk of infection is still to be more studied.