Can Keratoconus Progression Be Predicted?

12/9/14

This article on keratoconus progression is from the National Keratoconus Foundation’s monthly e-update. To receive this valuable source of KC information to your inbox, you can subscribe here.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) ratio is a new potential predictor of systemic inflammation in several diseases. The aimed of this study, conducted by a group of researchers in Turkey, was to evaluate NLR ratio in patients with keratoconus.

The study included 54 patients with keratoconus and 25 age- and sex-matched control subjects. All participants underwent a detailed ophthalmological examination and corneal topography. The KC patients were divided into progressive and non-progressive keratoconus groups on the basis of topographic parameters. Serum samples were obtained from all subjects, and the NLR ratio was calculated.
The study authors reported that the NLR ratio was 3.27 ± 1.37 in the progressive keratoconus group versus 1.87 ± 0.39 and 1.87 ± 0.52 in the non-progressive and control groups, respectively (p<0.01). They also observed that there was a positive correlation between the NLR ratio and progression (p<0.05). In the receiver-operating characteristic analysis, an NLR ratio ? 2.24 predicted the presence of progression with 79% sensitivity and 81% specificity.

The NLR ratio is a simple and inexpensive marker of systemic inflammation. The NLR ratio was found to be higher in patients with progressive keratoconus than in the non-progressive group and controls.