The role of the leukocyte glucose index in predicting clinical outcomes in acute methanol toxicity.

Introduction: Acute methanol poisoning signifies a global health issue. This study was designed to explore the role of the leukocyte glucose index (LGI) in predicting clinical outcomes; in-hospital mortality and visual impairment, and length of hospital stay, in acute methanol toxicity and to evaluate the association between LGI and all initial patient characteristics.

Patients and methods: This was a retrospective analysis that involved 82 acutely methanol-intoxicated patients, starting from January 2021 to December 2023. Patients were categorized by on-admission LGI tertiles into low, intermediate, and high groups.

Results: Approximately 27 % (22 out of 82) of patients died during hospitalization, with most of them belonging to the high LGI group. No significant differences existed in the proportions of patients with total vision loss, or the length of hospital stay. The majority of the undesirable findings were apparent in patients in either the intermediate or high LGI groups. LGI can distinguish exceptionally between survivors and non-survivors with an area under the curve of 0.808. However, LGI does not have any discriminatory power in predicting adverse visual outcomes.

Conclusion: LGI can serve as a valuable tool in predicting early in-hospital mortality in acute methanol poisoning.