Usefulness of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in predicting the severity of carotid artery stenosis in patients undergoing carotid angiography

Carotid artery stenosis (CAS) is primarily caused by atherosclerotic plaque. Progressive inflammation may contribute to the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque. The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is a new and simple marker that indicates inflammation. In this study, we aimed to investigate the use of the PLR to determine the severity of CAS. One hundred forty patients were chosen from among patients who underwent carotid angiography in our institution. Symptomatic patients with stenosis >50% in the carotid arteries and asymptomatic patients with stenosis >80% were diagnosed via carotid angiography as having critical stenosis. Patients were classified into two groups. Group 1 included patients who had critical CAS, whereas Group 2 included patients with noncritical CAS, as determined by carotid angiography. Correlations between the PLR and the severity of CAS were analyzed. There were no significant differences in sex and age between the two groups. The PLR was 162.5 ± 84.7 in the noncritical CAS group patients and 94.9 ± 60.3 in the critical CAS group patients (p < 0.0001). The PLR value of 117.1 had 89% sensitivity and 68% specificity for CAS [95% confidence interval, 0.043–0.159; area under the curve, 0.101 ± 0.03)]. In this study, we have shown that PLR values may be associated with critical stenosis in at least one of the carotid arteries. Furthermore, PLR values may be used to predict critical stenosis in the carotid arteries.