title: A novel marker for the assessment of the treatment result in pelvic inflammatory disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although various laboratory tests have been studied with an intended use in the diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and the assessment of treatment response, the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has not been investigated in PID. We aimed to explore the value of blood NLR in diagnosis of PID and assessment of the treatment response.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-five patients followed-up and treated with the diagnosis of PID in Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The NLR measured before treatment and after clinical remission in the patients diagnosed with PID were assessed and compared with controls (N.=65).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the patient group, the NLR measured before treatment was statistically significantly higher than the NLR measured after clinical remission (6.9±6.4 vs. 2.03±0.8, P<0.001). Similarly, comparison of the NLR measured in the patient group before treatment with the control group showed that this ratio was statistically significantly higher in the patient group before treatment (6.9±6.4 vs. 1.9±0.5, P<0.001). A comparison of the NLR measured after clinical remission did not reveal a statistically significant difference when compared with control group (1.9±0.5 vs. 2.03±0.8, P=0.981).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The NLR increases in patients diagnosed with PID and returns to normal levels when the patients enter clinical remission. Since there is currently no laboratory test available that indicates clinical improvement by returning to normal levels, as achieved by the NLR, and since it is an inexpensive and easy-to-apply test, we suggest that the NLR can be conveniently used to show clinical improvement in PID.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Tepecik Research and Training Hospital, Izmir, Turkey - volkanturan@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Aycan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akopuz
authors.forename: Volkan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Turan
authors.forename: Aycut
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozcan
authors.forename: Yeliz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kopuz
authors.forename: Emrah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Toz
authors.forename: Sefa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000378:metabolism*; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D012074:Remission Induction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers