Unveiling the predictive capacity of inflammatory and platelet markers for central retinal artery occlusion

Abstract

Objectives: Cell counting in peripheral blood samples and their combinations have gained wide usage in clinical research due to their convenient and minimally invasive sampling method. This study aims to evaluate the predictive value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic Immunoinflammatory Index (SII), and systemic Inflammatory Response Index (SIRI), and platelet distribution width (PDW) for the occurrence of non-arteritic Central retinal artery occlusion (NA-CRAO).

Methods: We included 123 patients diagnosed with NA-CRAO and 120 age-, sex- and blood pressure-matched individuals in this study. All participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic assessment. Peripheral blood samples were retrospectively analysed to obtain patients' blood counts and platelet-related indices, and further NLR, SII and SIRI were calculated.

Results: NLR, SII, SIRI, and PDW were all found to be elevated and significantly different in NA-CRAO patients compared to controls (p < 0.05). Notably, elevated NLR and PDW were identified as independent influences on the development of NA-CRAO, with a combined predicted AUC of 0.876.

Conclusion: The utilization of NLR and PDW in NA-CRAO prediction may prove to be more effective compared to SII and SIRI.

Keywords: Central retinal artery occlusion; Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; Platelet distribution width; Systemic immune-inflammation index; Systemic inflammatory response index.