Inflammation-based prognostic scores predict disease severity in patients with acute cholecystitis

Although several investigators have reported that inflammation-based prognostic scores can predict disease severity in patients with various inflammatory diseases, whether or not these scores are associated with disease severity in patients with acute cholecystitis (AC) has not yet been fully clarified.

Two hundred and sixty-two patients with AC were reviewed retrospectively. We evaluated the correlations between demographic or clinical variables, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS), the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), and the C-reactive protein/albumin (CRP/Alb) ratio, as well as the disease severity grade on the basis of the revised Tokyo guidelines. Multivariate analyses were carried out to identify the clinical parameters associated with disease severity grade.

The NLR (P<0.0001), GPS (P<0.0001), mGPS (P<0.0001), and CRP/Alb ratio (P<0.0001) were all elevated according to the severity grade. Multivariate analyses showed that the NLR [odds ratio (OR)=3.41-4.77; P<0.005], GPS (OR=2.49; P=0.012), mGPS (OR=2.79; P=0.005), and the CRP/Alb ratio (OR=12.53; P<0.0001) were associated independently with grade II/III AC. The value of the area under the curve of the CRP/Alb ratio (continuous 0.759) or NLR (continuous 0.753) was higher than that of other inflammation-based prognostic scores for diagnosing ≥grade II AC, grade III AC, respectively.

Inflammation-based prognostic scores could predict the severity grade independently in patients with AC. These scores may play a complementary role in predicting disease severity in patients with AC in conjunction with the Tokyo guidelines severity grade.