Objective: To investigate the relationship between subjective tinnitus and red cell distribution width (RDW), platelet distribution width (PDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) levels.
Materials and Methods: This retrospective research included a total of 91 patients with subjective tinnitus and a control group of gender- and age-matched 65 healthy volunteers. Ear, nose, throat examination followed by pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, complete blood count, and magnetic resonance imaging of the temporal bone was performed. The clinical features and duration of tinnitus were recorded for each patient. The MPV, NLR, PDW, PLR and RDW levels were compared between tinnitus and control groups.
Results: Mean RDW was 15.49±2.43% in the patient group and 15.42±2.04% in the control group (p=0.831). Mean PDW was 16.13±2.51% in the patient group and 15.99±9.94% in the control group (p=0.901). Mean MPV was 8.95±0.77 fL in the patient group and 8.55±0.75 fL in the control group (p=0.002). Mean NLR was 1.89±0.63 in the patient group and 1.88±0.75 in the control group (p=0.916). Mean PLR was 113.93±33.91 in the patient group and 120.90±33.23 in the control group (p=0.204). Only MPV established a significant difference between tinnitus and control groups.
Conclusion: Only MPV was found to have an important role in the clinical prognosis and diagnosis of tinnitus. Elevated MPV indicates a possible role of thrombosis and vascular diseases in the etiology of subjective tinnitus, so increased MPV can be used as a thrombosis marker in subjective tinnitus.