Graves' disease: high NLR predicts relapse after antithyroid drug therapy

Takeaway

• A high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is associated with relapse in patients with Graves' disease treated with antithyroid drug (ATD) therapy.

Why this matters

• Prognostic markers can help guide patient management, and the NLR is simple, noninvasive, and cost-effective.

Key results

• 21% of patients experienced relapse within a year of ATD withdrawal.
• Patients with high NLR (≥1.14) had shorter relapse-free survival (RFS) compared with patients with low NLR (<1.14; P=.002).
• High NLR was associated with an increased risk for relapse compared with low NLR in multivariate analysis (OR, 4.22; P=.016).
• Young age at the time of diagnosis was also associated with risk for relapse (OR, 4.20; P=.017).

Study design

• 108 patients with Graves' disease who received ATD therapy were analyzed for relapse/RFS and associated factors.
• Funding: None disclosed.

Limitations

• Retrospective study.