The following is a summary of “Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is an independent predictor for neurological disability in patients with idiopathic transverse myelitis,” published in the September 2023 issue of Neurology by Min et al.

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a biomarker of systemic inflammation. Still, its validity in demyelinating central nervous system disorders is unclear. Researchers performed a retrospective study investigating the NLR in patients with idiopathic transverse myelitis (ITM).

They analyzed patient cohort data from January 2006 to February 2020. This analysis involved reviewing medical records of individuals with myelitis to exclude those with disease-related myelopathy based on predefined criteria. Assessing the relationship between the natural log-transformed NLR (lnNLR) and various clinical, paraclinical, and imaging data, factors linked to neurological disability were examined. The focus was on predictive factors for moderate-to-severe neurological disability, defined as an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score ≥ 4.

The results showed that the analysis included 124 participants. The natural log-transformed NLR (lnNLR) correlated with the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and lesion length. In linear mixed-effects analysis, age, lesion length, and lnNLR were independently associated with neurological disabilities. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that lnNLR (OR)= 4.266, 95% (CI)= 1.220–14.912, P=0.023) and lesion length (OR = 1.848, 95% CI = 1.249–2.734, P=0.002) were free predictive factors of the worst neurological disability.

They concluded that NLR predicts poor neurological outcomes in patients with ITM.

Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-023-03384-3