Wang et al reported the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as a predictor of malnutrition in hospitalized patients with cirrhosis. The authors are from Tianjin Medical University.
Patient selection: hospitalized patient with cirrhosis
Parameters:
(1) percent neutrophils in the differential count of the peripheral blood
(2) percent lymphocytes in the differential count
neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio =
= (neutrophil percent) / (lymphocyte percent)
Interpretation:
• An NLR > 4.2 has a sensitivity of 0.47 and specificity of 0.81 for malnutrition, with a negative predictive value of 0.60 and positive predictive value of 0.75.
The NLR is easy and inexpensive so can be used frequently to monitor a patient.
It can be combined with other measures such as the Royal Free Hospital Nutrition Prioritizing Tool.
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