Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio: A Long Way from Association to Prediction

Abstract

Coelho et al. report an association between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and 30 day amputation free survival following intervention in patients with Rutherford grade IIa or IIb acute limb ischaemia (ALI).1 NLR was statistically significantly higher in patients that needed major amputation or died within 30 days after admission. A cut off value of 5.4 for the NLR showed good discriminatory ability (AUC 0.86, 95% CI 0.82 – 0.90). In other words, 86% of all patients were classified correctly for their outcome based on the laboratory findings at admission; 90.5% of all patients with a NLR ≥ 5.4 required a major amputation or died within 30 days after admission with ALI; in 73.6% of all patients with a NLR < 5.4 the limb could be saved.