Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Leukocyte ratios in healthy cats and cats with SIRS or sepsis
By Eleonora Gori et al.·Published in Animals·2021·Department of Veterinary Sciences, Veterinary Teaching Hospital “Mario Modenato”, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy, CH·View original on DOAJ →
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Original publication title: Leukocytes Ratios in Feline Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and Sepsis: A Retrospective Analysis of 209 Cases
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with severe infections, including 54 with Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) and 79 with sepsis, were studied to see if certain blood cell ratios could help predict their outcomes. The researchers found that sick cats had higher levels of a specific blood cell ratio (NLR) compared to healthy cats, and that a higher NLR was linked to a greater chance of death. While NLR was useful for identifying sick cats, other ratios (BLR and BNLR) were better at distinguishing between SIRS and sepsis. These findings could help veterinarians assess and treat sick cats more effectively.
People also search for: cat sepsis symptoms · cat SIRS treatment · blood tests for sick cats
Abstract
Sepsis is a challenging condition in which hematological prognostic and diagnostic markers in cats are limited. The aims of this study were to test if there are any differences in leukocyte ratios (NLR, BLR and BNLR) between healthy, SIRS and septic cats (sick cats), and if, within sick cats, NLR, BLR and BNLR may be prognostic markers. A retrospective medical database study included 76 healthy cats (blood-donors), 54 SIRS and 79 septic cats. SIRS group was defined if cats fulfilled SIRS criteria. Sepsis was confirmed with an infectious focus on cytology or a positive culture for bacterial infection. Leukocyte ratios were compared among the three study groups and between survivors and non-survivors in sick cats. NLR resulted significantly higher in the sick group compared to healthy cats (<i>p</i> < 0.0001), although NLR was not different between SIRS and sepsis. An NLR > 4.53 had a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 93.4% to detect SIRS/sepsis (OR 44.8 95%CI 17–107). Only BLR and BNLR were significantly different between SIRS and sepsis. NLR was associated with mortality in the sick group (<i>p</i> = 0.04). Although NLR resulted higher in sick cats than healthy, BLR and BNLR demonstrated as promising tools in differentiating SIRS from sepsis. NLR was associated with mortality in sick cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on DOAJ: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061644