title: Association between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and pulmonary arterial hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is composed of a heterogeneous group of disorders marked by increased pulmonary artery resistance leading to right heart failure, with high mortality. Evidence is increasing to propose that inflammation plays a significant role in the pathophysiological mechanism. Increased prevalence of PH in patients with systemic inflammatory diseases is already known. Herein, we sought to evaluate the association between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (N/L ratio) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five patients with PAH and 25 controls were evaluated. Baseline clinical and echocardiographic variables were obtained. Complete blood counts in all patients and controls were reviewed retrospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The N/L ratio was higher in patients with PAH compared to healthy volunteers (p=0.05). A cut-off value of 1.65 for N/L ratio predicted the presence of PAH with 72% sensitivity and 69% specificity. After multivariate analysis, only N/L ratio remained a significant predictor of PAH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We showed for the first time that N/L ratio was significantly increased in patients with PAH compared to controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Diyarbakır, Turkey. drakadiryildiz@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Abdulkadir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yıldız
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.forename: Faruk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ertaş
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oylumlu
authors.forename: Mehmet Zihni
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Bilik
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yüksel
authors.forename: Nihat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Polat
authors.forename: Mehmet Ata
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Akil
authors.forename: Zuhal
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Atılgan
authors.forename: Mehmet Sıddık
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ulgen
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000097:blood*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000473:pathology*; D012372:ROC Curve