Monocytes as an Early Predictor for Patients with Acute Paraquat Poisoning: A Retrospective Analysis

BACKGROUND: The predictive values of monocytes in the prognosis of patients with acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning are unclear. This retrospective study investigated the predictive values of monocytes in the prognosis of patients with acute PQ poisoning. METHODS: Adult patients who suffered from acute PQ poisoning in the emergency care unit of Cangzhou Central Hospital from May 2012 to December 2018 were enrolled. The patients were divided into groups, namely, survival and nonsurvival, according to a 90-day prognosis. Moreover, correlation, logistic regression, receiver-operator characteristic (ROC), and Kaplan–Meier curve analyses were applied to evaluate the monocyte values used to predict the prognosis of patients with acute PQ poisoning. RESULT: Among the 109 patients, 45 survived within 90 days after the poisoning, resulting in a 41.28% survival rate. The monocyte count of the nonsurvivors was significantly higher than that of the survivors (P< 0.001). Correlation analysis showed that monocyte count positively correlated with plasma PQ concentration (r= 0.413; P< 0.001) and negatively correlated with survival time (r= 0.512; P< 0.001) and 90-day survival (r= 0.503; P< 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that elevated monocytes were the independent risk factors for the 90-day survival. The area under the ROC curve of the monocyte count used to predict the 90-day survival was 0.826 (95% CI: 0.751–0.904), the optimal cut-off was 0.51×10(9)/L, sensitivity was 73.4%, and specificity was 86.7%. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that elevated monocyte count is a useful early predictor of 90-day survival in patients with acute PQ poisoning. However, further studies are warranted to draw firm conclusions.