USEFULNESS OF NEUTROPHIL TO LYMPHOCYTE RATIO IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE: A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Dr.Viney Sambyal; Dr. Naveed Anjum Qureshi

Volume : VIII, Issue : III, March - 2019

USEFULNESS OF NEUTROPHIL TO LYMPHOCYTE RATIO IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE: A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Dr. Viney Sambyal, Dr. Naveed Anjum Qureshi

Abstract :

Background: Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in peripheral blood is a useful systemic inflammatory response biomarker. However, NLR has not been studied in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study was aimed to evaluate the usefulness of NLR in patients with COPD. Materials and Methods: The laboratory results of 206 COPD patients were included into the study, of which 94 patients were in acute exacerbation and 112 patients were at stable period, and there were 80 gender and age–matched healthy controls. Complete blood count (CBC), C–reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were evaluated. NLR was calculated from CBC. Results: NLR values of patients with COPD (both acutely exacerbated and stable) were found significantly higher than those of the controls (p< 0.001, p< 0.05; respectively). For an NLR cutoff of 3.34, sensitivity for detecting exacerbation of COPD was 78.7% and specificity was 73.2% (AUC 0.863, p< 0.001). Conclusion: Our results suggest that NLR may be considered as a reliable and simple indicator in the determination of increased inflammation in patients with COPD. Furthermore, NLR could be useful for the early detection of possible acute exacerbations in patients with COPD