Corrected ESR/Albumin Ratio as a Simple, Practical Marker Predicts the Severity in Egyptian Ulcerative Colitis Patients

Abstract

Background: Serum biomarkers are commonly used for diagnosing and monitoring the disease activity of Ulcerative Colitis (UC) patients. However, their role in predicting disease severity among Egyptian patients is unknown. Objectives: The aim of this study was to correlate these biomarkers with clinical, endoscopic and histologic severity. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey where 55 patients with UC were included to measure corrected Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), hematocrit (Hct), corrected ESR/albumin ratio and albumin, as well as colonoscopy and biopsy. Sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive values were correlated with clinical, endoscopic, histologic severity. Results: The mean age of patients was 33 ± 8.4 years. In total, 27 (49.1%) were males and 28 (50.9%) were females. Area Under the Curve (AUC) values for the diagnosis of severe clinical disease were 0.947, 0.932, 0.727 and 0.685 for corrected ESR/albumin ratio, corrected ESR, Hct and albumin, respectively. Cut-off value to determine endoscopic severity for Hct was 34 (sensitivity: 88.89%, specificity: 83.78%, PPV: 72.7%, NPV: 93.9%, AUC: 0.963, p<0.001). Conclusion: Corrected ESR/albumin ratio was the best predictor of severe clinical activity of UC disease. Hct may be a marker of endoscopic and histological severity due to its high sensitivity and specificity as a diagnostic test.