Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte-to-Monocyte Ratio Predicts Mortality in Patients with HBV-Related Decompensated Cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Recent reports suggest that the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) is a potential biomarker for predicting clinical outcomes. In the present study, LMR in patients with hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis (HBV-DeCi) was investigated to evaluate whether LMR may have utility as a new predictive marker for mortality in HBV-DeCi patients.

METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study that included 135 patients with HBV-DeCi. Logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve were employed to assess the independent predictors for 1-month mortality rate of patients with HBV-DeCi.

RESULTS: A significantly lower LMR was detected in non-surviving patients than in surviving patients, and a lower LMR was associated with increased 1-month mortality. Multivariate analysis suggested that both LMR and the model for endstage liver disease were independent predictors of 1-month mortality in patients with HBV-DeCi (both p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that a low LMR can be considered a new independent biomarker for predicting 30-day mortality in patients with HBV-DeCi.