Abstract
We aimed to investigate the relationship between peripheral vertigo and inflammation by using the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as an inflammatory marker. We recruited 103 patients with peripheral vertigo (71 women, 32 men; mean age, 39.8 ± 14.7 years) who presented to the Otolaryngology Department of Dumlupinar University Hospital. Vertigo patients with systemic diseases, neurological disorders, malignancy or any inflammatory disease that could alter the NLR were excluded from the study. We also enrolled 103 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects (controls; 82 women, 21 men; mean age, 36.7 ± 13.5 years) who underwent routine checkups in our hospital. The vertigo patients underwent full otolaryngologic and neurologic examinations and audiometric tests to rule out any other pathology causing the peripheral vertigo. NLR was calculated in all subjects and was compared between the patient and control groups. There were no significant differences between the study and control groups in terms of lipid profiles, liver-function tests, white blood cell (WBC) count, hemoglobin level, mean platelet volume, and vitamin B 12 and folate levels. The mean NLR was significantly higher in the patients than in the controls ( P < 0.05). In conclusion, this study, which was the first to investigate the relationship between the NLR and peripheral vertigo, found that the NLR is significantly higher among peripheral vertigo patients than among healthy controls. This result suggests that the NLR is a novel potential marker of stress in peripheral vertigo patients.
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Introduction
The vestibular system includes the parts of the inner ear and brain that process the sensory information involved with controlling balance and eye movement. Vertigo is the perception of movement either of the self or of the surrounding objects. It is a common clinical symptom, and is usually described as a rotational, spinning movement. The most commonly diagnosed vestibular disorders in patients with vertigo include Ménière’s disease, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular neuritis, labyrinthitis, perilymph fistula and acoustic neuroma.
Vertigo, anxiety and stress tend to be concomitant, and attacks of vertigo seem to produce increased levels of stress-related hormones . The total white blood cell (WBC) count and the counts of certain WBC subtypes are classic inflammatory markers, especially, in patients with cardiovascular diseases . The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been proposed as a reliable indicator of host inflammatory status and a potential marker of inflammation in cardiac and non-cardiac disorders .
In the present study, we compared NLRs between patients with peripheral vertigo and healthy subjects. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the NLR in patients with peripheral vertigo.
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