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Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio as an indicator of idiopathic epilepsy in dogs
Juwon Wang1, Yeon Chae1, Yoonhoi Koo2
1Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Hematologic indices are identified as biomarkers in various inflammatory diseases and in human epilepsy.
Hypothesis/Objectives:
To identify the most accurate hematologic index and evaluate its diagnostic utility in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE).
Animals:
A total of 46 dogs with IE, 24 with hydrocephalus, 39 with meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology (MUE), 17 with brain tumors (BTs), and 55 healthy controls. Of these, 6 hydrocephalus, 24 MUE, and 11 BT dogs presented with seizures and were classified as structural epilepsy for comparison with IE.
Methods:
This retrospective study analyzed hematologic indices and used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to identify the most accurate marker, whose diagnostic utility was subsequently evaluated.
Results:
The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) demonstrated the highest diagnostic performance among the evaluated indices. Median PLR was significantly higher in IE dogs (132.3 [102.0-160.0]) than in controls (94.9 [77.6-108.4], P < .0001), but lower than that in dogs with MUE (240.8 [164.6-357.5], P < .0001), BT (246.5 [178.8-360.8], P < .0001), and hydrocephalus (164.0 [110.1-194.5], P < .0001). The area under the ROC curve was 0.73 for differentiating IE vs controls, 0.78 for IE vs structural brain diseases, and 0.85 for IE vs structural epilepsy. Optimal PLR cutoffs were 111.0 (sensitivity 67.4%, specificity 78.2%) to distinguish IE vs controls, 161.9 (sensitivity 71.3%, specificity 76.1%) for IE vs structural brain diseases, and 178.3 (sensitivity 84.8%, specificity 78.1%) for IE vs structural epilepsy.
Conclusions And Clinical Importance:
Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio shows promise as a biomarker for diagnosing IE in dogs and distinguishing it from structural brain diseases, including those with seizures.
