Accuracy Of Neutrophil To Lymphocyte Ratio Research Articles

Role of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and C-Reactive Protein to Albumin Ratio (CAR) as Early Predictors of Severity in Acute Pancreatitis

Background: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a life-threatening disease caused by a variety of factors, and once it progresses to severe acute pancreatitis, the prognosis is poor. Different modalities are available for predicting severity in acute pancreatitis. A single, cheap, widely available marker with high sensitivity and specificity is yet to be identified. Aims and objectives: The present study was aimed to determine the relation of the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and CRP-Albumin ratio (CAR) in early prediction of severity in acute pancreatitis. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disorders (GHPD), BIRDEM General Hospital, Shahbagh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, from April, 2020 to March, 2022. Diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was made by clinical findings, serum amylase and lipase levels (>3 times the upper limit of normal values), evidences of acute pancreatitis by ultrasonography and computed tomography (CT). Severity of acute pancreatitis was classified according to the revised version of Atlanta classification. Data collection was done through a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS 23. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of NLR and CAR. Results: A total of 120 patients with acute pancreatitis were enrolled in this study. Age of the patients was 45.20±13.93 (mean ±SD) years, male predominance was observed (54.2%). Majority of the cases were mild 52.5% (n=63) compared to moderate 28.3% (n=34) and severe 19.2% (n=23). The NLR was 6.63±3.344 (Mean ± SD) with a range of 1.32 to 18.75. The CAR was 3.20±2.23 (Mean ±SD) with range of 0.14-7.20. The area under the curve (AUC) of NLR and CAR were 0.865 and 0.949 for severity of AP respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy of NLR at cut-off ≥5.72 were 80.7%, 76.2%, 75.4%, 81.4% & 78.3% and that of CAR at cut-off ≥2.07 were 96.5%, 76.2%, 78.6%, 96.0% & 85.8%. Conclusion: This study revealed that NLR and CAR are good predictors in the assessment of severity of AP. These easily accessible and low-cost inflammatory markers can be used for the management of acute pancreatitis. Bangladesh Crit Care J September 2023; 11 (2): 83-89

The predictive value of hematologic parameters in the risk of thyroid malignancy in cases with atypia/follicular lesion of undetermined significance.

Atypia/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS) is still the most challenging category in the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and mean platelet volume (MPV) in predicting malignancy in cases with AUS/FLUS nodules. A total of 200 patients with AUS/FLUS nodules who underwent thyroidectomy were included in this study. Preoperative hemogram parameters, ultrasonographic findings, fine-needle aspiration results, and postoperative final histopathological diagnoses of the patients were recorded retrospectively. Thyroid malignancies were detected in 122 of the patients (61.0%). Patients in the benign group (BG) were older than those in the malignancy group (MG) (52.0 ± 11.3 vs. 45.9 ± 12.3years, p < 0.001). The median TSH values of the two groups were comparable. Statistically significant differences were obtained between the two groups in respect of mean WBC of 7.53 ± 1.44 in MG and 6.87 ± 1.35 (103/mm3) in BG, mean neutrophil of 4.65 ± 1.12 in MG and 3.95 ± 0.99 (103/mm3) in BG, and median NLR of 2.18 (0.71-4.57) in MG and 1.75 (0.80-3.42) in BG (p < 0.001). The median PLR and MPV values of the two groups were similar. When NLR cut-off point was designated as 2.24, the accuracy of NLR in distinguishing malignancy from the benign condition was 0.65 in ROC analysis (area under the curve, 0.665; specificity, 0.808; sensitivity, 0.492). High NLR values may provide limited help in predicting thyroid malignancy in the AUS/FLUS nodule population, while PLR and MPV are not reliable parameters.

Comparison of the Accuracy of Modified CT Severity Index Score and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Assessing the Severity of Acute Pancreatitis.

BackgroundAcute pancreatitis is an acute gastrointestinal emergency with significant morbidity and mortality if not treated. It can lead to local as well as systemic complications and has a prevalence of 51.07%. Laboratory investigations such as amylase and lipase and ultrasound scan are typically used for the diagnosis. A contrast-enhanced CT scan is considered the gold standard. Both laboratory and radiological investigation-based scoring systems have been reported in the literature and are in practice. However, these modalities demand several laboratory investigations and are expensive. Our study aims to determine the congruency of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the modified CT severity index score (MCTSI) with the revised Atlanta classification in assessing the severity of acute pancreatitis. In addition, the accuracy of NLR and MCTSI is determined. The secondary objective is to determine whether NLR can predict the severity of acute pancreatitis to the same extent as MCTSI through expensive radiological imaging and other clinical scoring systems through a list of investigations.MethodologyThe data for this study were collected retrospectively and patients with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis were included through the nonprobability convenience sampling method. All patients underwent relevant laboratory workup (including complete blood count) and radiological workup (including CT scan) during their hospital stay. The main outcome measures were sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of NLR and MCTSI, and the congruency of these with the revised Atlanta classification in assessing the severity of acute pancreatitis.ResultsA total of 166 patients with acute pancreatitis were included, of which 107 (64.45%) were males and 59 (35.55%) were females, with a mean age of 43.7. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of NLR were 67%, 90.9%, and 76%, respectively, whereas the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of MCTSI were 95%, 13.6%, and 62%, respectively. The area under the curve for NLR was 0.855 whereas that for MCTSI was determined to be 0.645.ConclusionsNLR has a good concordance with the revised Atlanta classification and assesses the disease severity, especially in moderate-to-severe cases of acute pancreatitis compared to MCTSI. In addition, NLR can be used in acute and/or resource-poor settings to predict the severity of acute pancreatitis.