Novel Marker for Predicting the Severity and Prognosis of Acute Pulmonary Embolism: Platelet-To-Hemoglobin Ratio

Background: We investigated the ability of the platelet-to-hemoglobin ratio (PHR) to predict mortality and disease severity in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (APE). Materials & methods: The severity of APE was classified as massive (high risk), submassive (intermediate risk) or nonmassive (low risk). PHR is defined as platelet count/hemoglobin count. Results: PHR was significantly higher in patients with massive APE, and this elevation showed a gradual increase from the nonmassive group to the massive group (p < 0.001). In-hospital and 1-month mortality were higher in patients with high PHR values. PHR was an independent risk factor for the development of massive APE (odds ratio: 1.014; 95% CI: 1.011-1.017; p = 0.009). Conclusion: PHR values predicted massive APE and were an independent predictor of mortality in APE.Acute pulmonary embolism is an important cause of death and disability. It is essential to diagnose this disease early, determine its severity and give appropriate treatments. Our study was carried out to investigate whether it is possible to determine the severity of this disease and reveal how it might progress by using the platelet-to-hemoglobin ratio, which is a simple blood measurement and can be found in any health institution.