Title: Platelet to Lymphocyte Ratio, Platelet and Lymphocyte Counts in Assessing the Severity of Disease in Valvular Heart Diseases
Authors: Dr Yogita Devi, Dr Kalaivani Selvi
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v7i2.93
Abstract
Background: Valvular heart disease (VHD) is becoming a major public health concern in developing countries. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is a novel inflammatory marker used as a prognostic factor in VHD and various other diseases.
Aims and Objectives: To assess the utility of PLR, platelet and lymphocyte counts for assessing the severity of valvular heart disesase.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Pathology for a period of one and half years from November 2016 to May 2018 which included 40 cases of valvular heart disease who underwent surgery in the Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Surgery Department of a tertiary care hospital and 40 healthy subjects with normal cardiovascular status as control. ECHO was used to classify the VHD patients as mild-to-moderate and severe cases. Platelet, lymphocyte counts and PLR ratio was compared between the cases and controls using unpaired t-test. A p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Observation and Results: PLR was found to be significantly higher in patients with severe VHD (p value<0.05) than in controls but was not found to be significantly higher in mild-to-moderate cases. Platelet counts and lymphocyte counts were found to be statistically insignificant (p>0.05).
Conclusion: High PLR is found to be associated with severe valvular heart disease and can be used as a marker for assessing severity of valvular disease.
Keywords: Valvular heart diaeases, platelet to lymphocyte ratio, platelet counts, lymphocyte counts.
