Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte Ratio Associated With an Increased Risk of Mortality in Patients With Critical Limb Ischemia

Purpose: Association of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with mortality has not been comprehensively explored in critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients. We investigated the association between the NLR and clinical outcomes in CLI.Materials and methods: We retrospectively enrolled consecutive CLI patients during 1/1/2013–12/31/2018. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis determined NLR cutoffs for 1-year in-hospital, all-cause and cardiac-related mortality, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and limb events (MALEs).Results: Among 195 patients (age, 74.0 years, SD: 11.5; 51.8% male; BMI, 23.4 kg/m2, SD: 4.2), 14.4% exhibited acute limb ischemia. After 1 year, patients with an NLR>8 had higher in-hospital mortality (21.1% vs. 3.6%, P<0.001), all-cause mortality (54.4% vs. 13.8%, P<0.001), cardiac-related mortality (28.1% vs. 6.5%, P<0.001), MACE (29.8% vs. 13.0%, P=0.008), and MALE (28.1% vs. 13.0%, P=0.021) rates than those with an NLR<8. In multivariate logistic regression, an NLR≥8 was significantly associated with all-cause (P<0.001) and cardiac-related (adjusted HR: 5.286, 95% CI: 2.075-13.47, P<0.001) mortality, and an NLR≥6 was significantly associated with MALEs (adjusted HR: 2.804, 95% CI: 1.292-6.088, P=0.009).Conclusion: CLI patients with high NLRs had higher risks of 1-year all-cause and cardiac-related mortality and MALEs. The NLR can be used for prognostic prediction in these patients.