Introduction:

The major characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is systemic inflammation. The parameters such as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and red cell distribution width (RDW) are considered to be the underlying biomarkers of inflammation. The aim of our study was to determine elements of complete blood count (CBC) predictive of severity and risk of exacerbation in COPD.

Methods:

Retrospective study, conducted between 2017 and 2022, collecting 200 patients with confirmed COPD and having benefited from a CBC in stable condition.

Results:

The mean age was 64±12 years with a sex ratio of 8.09. The Gold A, Gold B, Gold C and Gold D groups were respectively found in 8%, 13.5%, 24% and 54.5% of cases. Frequent exacerbators (>1 exacerbation/year) represented 62.5% of patients and 5.5% had anemia. The average rates of the RDW, NLR, PLR were 14.2%, 2.9 and 140.02 respectively. Anemia was significantly correlated with the clinical severity of the disease according to the Gold group (p=0.03) also with the number of exacerbations per year (p=0.04). The PLR and NLR ratios were respectively associated with the severity of COPD (p=0.04;p=0.04), the exacerbations number per year (p>0,05;p=0.01) and the exacerbations severity (p=0.02;p=0.03). Hypereosinophilia >300 /mm3 was associated with the severity of COPD and exacerbations (p>0.05;p=0.04) as well as longer hospital stay (p<0.05). The RDW was significantly associated with COPD severity, number and severity of exacerbations (p=0.03;p=0.04;p=0.02) and was higher in patients with chronic respiratory failure (p<0.05).

Conclusion:

CBC is a simple and commonly used tool that predicts the severity and the risk of occurrence of an acute exacerbation in COPD.