The Role of the Nonspecific Inflammatory Markers in Determining the Anatomic Extent of Venous Thromboembolism

We aimed to investigate the relationship between the extent of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and nonspecific inflammatory markers such as neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). We retrospectively enrolled 77 patients with VTE (distal deep vein thrombosis [DVT], n = 19; proximal DVT, n = 32; and pulmonary thromboembolism [PTE], n = 26) and 34 healthy controls. In the performed analysis of variance, the levels of white blood cell, NLR, and hs-CRP were clearly different among the groups (control, distal and proximal DVT, and PTE) (P <.001). Especially, a significant increase from the control group to the DVT and PTE was observed in the analysis made for NLR. In the performed receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, area under curve (AUC) = 0.849 and P <.001 were detected for NLR > 1.84. For this value, the sensitivity and specificity were determined as 88.2% and 67.6%, respectively. The NLR is an inexpensive and a readily available marker that may be effective in determining the extent of VTE, and it is useful for risk stratification in patients with VTE.