title: Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Marker in Patients with Non-arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is the most common acute optic neuropathy in patients over the age of 50 and is the second most common cause of permanent optic nerve-related visual loss in adults after glaucoma. Although the precise cause of NAION remains elusive, the etiology of NAION is believed to be multifactorial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the utility of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as a simple and readily available prognostic factor for clinical disease activity in patients with NAION.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-five patients with the diagnosis of NAION and 50 age- and sex-matched controls with/without any systemic or ocular diseases except cataract were retrospectively enrolled in the study. Demographic characteristics and laboratory findings including complete blood count of all patients and control subjects were obtained from the electronic medical record. The neutrophil and lymphocyte counts were recorded and the NLR was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  White blood cell, neutrophil, NLR and platelet values of the NAION patients were significantly higher than those of the controls (p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.004, p=0.037, respectively). Initial NLR values were negatively correlated with initial and the third month best corrected visual acuity levels in the study group. The optimum NLR cut-off point for NAION was 1.94.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NLR could be considered as a new inflammatory marker for assessment of the severity of inflammation in NAION patients with its quick, cheap, easily measurable property with routine complete blood count analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Afyon Kocatepe University Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Onur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Polat
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Afyon Kocatepe University Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Güliz Fatma
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Yavaş
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Afyon Kocatepe University Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sibel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: İnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Afyon Kocatepe University Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ümit Übeyt
authors.initials: ÜÜ
authors.lastname: İnan
keywords: Disease severity; marker; neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy