Elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in the diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Summary Objective: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder. The purpose of this study was to determine the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a novel marker of inflammation, in patients with HT and to compare these values with those from healthy subjects. Method: A total of 154 participants were included in the study, 90 HT patients and 64 healthy volunteers. Retrospectively, demographic and laboratory data of the subjects were obtained from our institution's database. Patients with active infection, diabetes mellitus, malignancy, other chronic inflammatory diseases, hematologic disorders and patients on aspirin or steroid treatment were excluded from the study. Values for complete blood count (CBC) and serum laboratory parameters of HT patients were the baseline values obtained at the time of HT diagnosis. Control subjects consisted of healthy volunteers who visited our institution for a routine check-up. Results: Age, gender and CBC parameters were not different between the HT group and the control group; however, the NLR of HT group (2.1 [1.3-5.8]) was significantly higher than the control group (1.9 [0.6-3.3]), p=0.04. Conclusion: Increased NLR may be useful as an indicator of the presence of HT, especially in complicated cases. NLR is inexpensive and easy to determine. Larger, prospective studies are required to determine its usefulness in assessing diagnostic potential and treatment outcomes in HT patients.

Could Red Cell Distribution Width be a Marker of Thyroid Cancer?

OBJECTIVE: To study red cell distribution width (RDW) values, a novel inflammatory marker in routine hemogram, of patients with benign or malignant thyroid nodules and to compare with healthy population. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Abant Izzet Baysal University Hospital, Bolu, Turkey, from November 2015 and February 2017. METHODOLOGY: The hemogram values of patients undergone thyroid surgery for thyroid nodule between November 2015 and February 2017 were retrospectively analyzed, and compared to those in healthy subjects. Subjects with infectious or inflammatory diseases were excluded. Patients' characteristics and laboratory data were obtained from institutional computerized database. Preoperative hemogram values of thyroid nodule patients were recorded. One-way ANOVAand Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to compare variables with significance at p<0.05. RESULTS: Median RDW of malignant nodule group was 15.8 (12.9-19.5) and was significantly higher than both of those in benign nodule (15) and control groups (14), (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Elevated RDW in patients with thyroid nodules in preoperative period should alert the physician for possible malignancy and this cost-effective marker also can help support other modalities (ultrasound scan, and fine needle aspiration biopsy) to distinguish malignant from benign nodules.

Elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in the diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

OBJECTIVE: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder. The purpose of this study was to determine the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a novel marker of inflammation, in patients with HT and to compare these values with those from healthy subjects. METHOD: A total of 154 participants were included in the study, 90 HT patients and 64 healthy volunteers. Retrospectively, demographic and laboratory data of the subjects were obtained from our institution's database. Patients with active infection, diabetes mellitus, malignancy, other chronic inflammatory diseases, hematologic disorders and patients on aspirin or steroid treatment were excluded from the study. Values for complete blood count (CBC) and serum laboratory parameters of HT patients were the baseline values obtained at the time of HT diagnosis. Control subjects consisted of healthy volunteers who visited our institution for a routine check-up. RESULTS: Age, gender and CBC parameters were not different between the HT group and the control group; however, the NLR of HT group (2.1 [1.3-5.8]) was significantly higher than the control group (1.9 [0.6-3.3]), p=0.04. CONCLUSION: Increased NLR may be useful as an indicator of the presence of HT, especially in complicated cases. NLR is inexpensive and easy to determine. Larger, prospective studies are required to determine its usefulness in assessing diagnostic potential and treatment outcomes in HT patients.